The Red Dead Redemption 2 DLC Leak Is Fake, How an Online Prank Went out of Hand

A Red Dead Redemption 2 leak about an alien-themed DLC began spreading online over the weekend. But today, the originator of the leak confessed that it was all a lie, posted to see how easily rumors can spread online.

On Saturday user u/throwaway11113453 published a supposed “leak” he was told by a Rockstar employee friend of theirs in the r/GamingLeaksAndRumours subreddit. Although the leak has been removed by the mods, it essentially proposed the following details:

  1. There is a single-player DLC for Red Dead Redemption 2 in the works centering on Aliens, similar to Red Dead Redemption’s Undead Nightmare DLC.
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The Best Trailers of Comic-Con 2019

San Diego Comic Con 2019 is behind us, but judging by all the trailers released at Comic Con this past weekend, there’s a lot of good stuff ahead, from tentpole movies like Top Gun: Maverick (with the trailer accompanied by a surprise Tom Cruise cameo in Hall H) and Terminator: Dark Fate, to hotly-anticipated horror like IT Chapter Two and raunchy comedy Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, to massive TV adaptations like Netflix’s The Witcher, HBO’s Watchmen, and TBS’ Snowpiercer.

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Best Router for Gaming 2019: Get Online With These Gaming Routers

We know what you’re thinking, “Best router for gaming? Any serious gamer is on a hard-wired connection!” We hear you, but everyone still needs Wi-Fi in their home to survive.

Thankfully, with the arrival of 802.11ac—now known as Wi-Fi 5—you can actually game over a wireless connection if you’re dealing with cable routing issues or another barrier that prevents you from going wired. Plus, the next wireless protocol (802.11ax or Wi-Fi 6) is going to be as fast as 9.6Gbps, while current Wi-Fi standards max out at 3.5Gbps.

All this wireless speed is great news for people who might have wanted to game online in the past but gave up due to a flaky connection. We’ve tested and picked out the top models currently available. We also took a look at their gaming features (if they have any, as not all of them do), and arrived at a conclusion both objectively and subjectively. Based on our testing and expertise, there were several excellent options but one clear claim to the title of the best gaming router. Read on to find out which gaming routers made our best-of list.

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Hand Of Fate Developer Defiant Development Is No Longer Making Games

Hand of Fate developer Defiant Development is winding down. The Australian studio announced today that it will no longer develop games; the company said it is now “in caretaker mode” to support its existing games instead of developing new ones.

“When we started this studio, we did so with a clear goal in mind. To hire great people, to create great games and to do that in an ethical manner with respect for our team and our audience,” the studio said in a statement. “The Defiant model has always focused on creating games nobody else would. Games that reflected the skills and passions of our team. Games that did something new. Our process has always been focused on iteration and exploration. We go into dark places, searching for hidden treasures. We set out without knowing where the journey will take us, and we do so knowing that the unknown is not always safe.”

This was a “risky way” to develop games, Defiant acknowledged. “When it succeeds it delivers things you could never have considered possible. When it fails, it leaves you without a safety net,” the company said.

Unfortunately for Defiant, the studio’s nine-year run appears to be coming to an end. It appears staff have been let go, as a smaller team stays on to support Defiant’s existing titles, such as Hand of Fate 2 which was released in 2017.

“Studios rise and studios fall, but people are always more important–to the people of Defiant, staff, friends, families, and partners, thank you. May your futures shine bright, and may you change the world for the better,” Defiant said.

Finally, Defiant shared a trailer for a brand-new game the studio was working on: A World In My Attic. Unfortunately, it appears this intriguing-looking, adventure-looking game may never see the light of day. For now, you can check out the trailer below.

Founded in 2010, Defiant Development also created the mobile games Ski Safari and Heroes Call. The company is based in Brisbane, Australia because the fantastic weather makes up for the global isolation.”

Nintendo to Repair Joy-Con Drift Issues for Free and Refund Past Repairs

Nintendo is officially taking action in regards to the “Joy-Con Drift” issue and will be repairing any affected Joy-Cons for free, and will refund those who have already had repairs done and were charged for them.

As reported by Vice, an internal Nintendo document was discovered that stated that customers will no longer need to provide proof of purchase and the repairs should be done, regardless of warranty status.

“Customers will no longer be requested to provide proof of purchase for Joy-Con repairs,” the internal customer service details say. “Additionally it is not necessary to confirm warranty status. If a customer requests a refund for a previously paid Joy-Con repair

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Pokemon Masters Is Light On Microtransactions, Heavy On Battles

In May 2019, The Pokemon Company revealed a new Pokemon mobile game: Pokemon Masters. Developed by DeNA, which assisted on other Nintendo mobile games like Fire Emblem Heroes and Super Mario Run, Pokemon Masters is a lot more complex than you might expect. In some ways, it’s like many other gacha-style mobile games, tempting you to play more with the promise of (possibly) pulling your favorite characters. But Pokemon Masters limits microtransactions to a small corner of the game, leaving room for a surprisingly involved story mode to show through.

I recently played around 45 minutes of Pokemon Masters, and it’s not quite a pick-up-and-play kind of game. The actual narrative part of the story mode, like a lot of Pokemon games, is not particularly complex; you’re a trainer in a new region called Pasio, where Pokemon Trainers form a “Sync Pair” with one partner Pokemon, and your goal is to become the Champion. But each chapter is broken up into several activities centered around battles, from point-and-click exploration of the region to boss fights against a famous Trainer. A big focus of the game is co-op play–it currently doesn’t have a versus mode–but you have to go through a handful of story chapters to unlock the option of playing with others, because there’s just so much to learn.

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It’s hard to come to grips with Masters’ 3v3 battles if you’re used to Pokemon’s traditional battle format. You control all three Trainers on your side of the battlefield, as well as their Pokemon–Trainers have support moves they can use just like a Pokemon’s moves. The type-matchup system is simplified in that each Pokemon only has one type and one weakness, and those weaknesses are displayed clearly in battle. The battles take place in real time, and moves are tied to a cooldown timer, so there’s a lot to manage all at once. Do you wait until your move meter fills to three sections so you can use a more powerful move–but possibly get hit a bunch while you wait–or do you forgo attacking entirely in favor of healing a Pokemon or boosting its stats?

In co-op mode, you contend with all the same things and add human communication on top of it. You can play with friends and strangers near and far. Even in person, co-op play isn’t easy; I was surprised at how close some of the battles ended up, even on the easier of the two difficulties available. There’s also a special “unity attack” you can unlock if you chain enough attacks as a team without taking damage, which takes a bit of coordination or luck to execute.

In short: 45 minutes was not enough to completely wrap my head around Pokemon Masters’ battles, and I spend quite a bit of my time thinking about Pokemon as it is.

The gacha part is much more straightforward. Masters features 65 Sync Pairs (a Trainer and their Pokemon) at launch, with a seemingly even distribution of characters from various points in Pokemon’s history to appeal to a wide range of fans. You can unlock some of them during the story mode, I was told, but to get your favorites, you’ll likely have to go “Sync Pair Scouting” and see what you get.

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The only thing you can spend real money on is gems, a currency exclusively used for this gacha side of the game (you can also earn gems in-game, though we don’t yet know how much you’ll have to play to get enough for one Sync Pair pull). I spent around 20 fake dollars during the demo to buy enough gems for 10 pulls, so while the pricing may not be final, getting all 65 Sync Pair teams at launch could probably take a good amount of time and/or money. I did get Ruby and Sapphire‘s Flannery, though, which was my main goal.

Strangely, these microtransactions are sequestered in their own side menu, away from the story mode. They’re unobtrusive and largely seem optional if you just want to go through the story mode; you can buy any items you might need, for example, with a different in-game currency. The benefit of going Sync Pair Scouting is potentially unlocking a more powerful pair or powering up one you already have by pulling a duplicate, but the microtransaction system seems very quietly utilized. I’ll have to play more to know for sure, of course, but it has a certain “Pokemon is for everyone” air to it.

Pokemon Masters is coming soon; it’s set for a Summer 2019 launch on iOS and Android, though the exact date hasn’t yet been announced. Pre-registration for the game is now open on both Google Play and the App Store.

Nintendo Addresses Joy-Con “Drift” Reports, Will Fix Controllers For Free And Offer Refunds

Recently, reports emerged that the Nintendo Switch’s Joy-Con controllers are liable to “drift,” or move without any input from the user. This is a problem. And now Nintendo is addressing it.

Vice obtained an internal Nintendo customer support memo that states that support members are now being told to offer users free repairs for the broken controllers, no questions asked and even if the controllers no longer fall under Nintendo’s warranty. Additionally, those who paid for repairs are being offered refunds.

“Customers will no longer be requested to provide proof of purchase for Joy-Con repairs,” reads a line from the memo. “Additionally it is not necessary to confirm warranty status. If a customer requests a refund for a previously paid Joy-Con repair […] confirm the prior repair and then issue a refund.”

In an official statement, Nintendo said it takes “great pride in creating quality products and we are continuously making improvements to them.” The company noted that it understands some Joy-Cons are “not responding correctly,” and the new, consumer-friendly free repairs and refunds appear to be an attempt on Nintendo’s part to make up for the issues.

In its statement and in the support documentation, Nintendo never acknowledges that the Joy-Cons have a problem from a design standpoint. Nintendo is currently being sued over the so-called “drifting,” so publicly admitting fault in that way is something the company is likely attempting to avoid.

“This drift issue simply prevents consumers from playing games in the way they are supposed to be able to on this device,” attorney Benjamin F. Johns told GameSpot sister site CNET. “It is extremely frustrating and I can understand why so many people are upset. We look forward to prosecuting this case.”

The legal team going after Nintendo have created a page for affected users to sign up to register their complaints. The lawyers, from Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith, are looking to launch a class-action case against Nintendo.

Nintendo will release a new Switch model, the portable-only Switch Lite, in September. Additionally, an improved version of the original Switch will go on sale this August; it boasts a better battery life but other than that it is said to be the same as the launch edition.

Astral Chain – Brawling With Beast Gameplay

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Madden 20 Early Access Begins This Week, Here’s How To Get In

Madden NFL 20‘s official release date is August 2, but with the way EA games work, you can start playing much earlier if you’re willing to pay extra.

EA Access subscribers can start playing a trial of the game beginning on July 25. EA Access has been available on Xbox One since 2014, but the service launches on PlayStation 4 this week, so owners of Sony’s console can play Madden NFL 20 early as well through EA Access.

Madden NFL 20 is also launching on PC, and those with memberships to Origin Access can start playing early, too. There are reports online that Madden NFL 20 early access through Origin Access Premier begins July 24, but this is seemingly unconfirmed.

If history is any indication, the Madden NFL 20 early access trial on console and PC will let you play the full game (or presumably most of it) for a set number of hours, the exact number of which is unclear at this stage. All of your progress is likely to carry forward if you choose to buy the game outright. EA/Origin Access members save 10 percent on all EA digital content, which knocks down the price of Madden NFL 20’s standard version from $60 USD to $54 USD.

Another way to play Madden NFL 20 early is to pre-order one of the game’s more expensive premium versions. The Ultimate Superstar ($100 USD) and Superstar ($80 USD) editions unlock three days early, beginning on July 30. These premium SKUs also include various in-game extras.

Madden NFL 20 promises a series of updates and improvements. Among its most notable new additions is college football; a small selection of college football teams, including Florida and Oklahoma, are featured in the game’s new Face of the Franchise career mode. You can check out a preview of the mode in the video embedded above. Also new for Madden NFL 20 are X-Factor super-abilities for some of the league’s best players.