Author: Trafficblast

Just when you thought 2020 couldn’t get any worse, rumors swirled through social media Friday that Annabelle, the real-life possessed doll made infamous by the Conjuring film franchise, had escaped from its confines at the Warrens’ occult museum.

Thankfully, the panic was un-Warren-ted as the reports proved untrue.

But Annabelle is just a horror movie prop, right? No!

The Conjuring franchise is inspired by the real-life cases of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (played in the films by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga), although the real Annabelle doll looks very different from its movie counterpart.

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As chronicled in the Conjuring series and its Annabelle spin-offs, the possessed doll came into the Warrens’ possession in 1970. They incarcerated it in a special glass box at their home, which later became The Warrens’ Occult Museum in Monroe, Connecticut.

Lorraine Warren, who died last year, explained in 2014 why simply destroying the Annabelle doll isn’t an option, saying that “getting rid of the doll would only get rid of the vessel, not the evil that resides within the doll. At least as it sits, we know where it resides. It isn’t out into the world causing harm to others. We have a Catholic priest who performs a binding prayer around the doll which acts as a blockade. The evil can’t penetrate the holy prayers that bind it. Think of it as similar to an electric-dog fence — keeping the dog within set boundaries.”

Now fast-forward to August 14, 2020, where social media was convinced of rumors that Annabelle had somehow found its way out of its confines to make life even more miserable.

Thankfully, the real Annabelle doll hasn’t escaped from the Warren museum because, as Newsweek reports, “Annabelle hasn’t lived in museum for quite some time. The museum closed [in 2019] due to zoning violations, and the artifacts are now in the possession of the Warrens’ son-in-law, Tony Spera.”

That’s not to say Annabelle’s on-screen counterpart hasn’t been up to no good lately. New Line Cinema recently released the viral video below of “Annabelle in Quarantine” to honor National Doll Day:

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The next entry in the franchise, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, arrives June 4, 2021.

You’ve made it to Friday, and your reward this week is a giant sale over at Best Buy. Hundreds of products are discounted currently, including tons of Nintendo Switch games, in-ear and over-the-ear headphones, laptops and tablets and so much more. Newegg has a killer deal on a 1TB NVMe SSD from Western Digital and we can’t forget the leader of the pack, which is the Hybrid Theory 20th Anniversary Album which is up for order at Amazon.

Deals for August 14

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More Video Game Deals

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Having a supportive and comfortable chair for both work and gaming has become even more crucial over the past year as more people try to remain at home due to COVID-19. As a result, we’ve seen some great deals on gaming chairs and other ergonomic office equipment recently, and Newegg’s latest deals notably feature several Fortnite-themed gaming chairs.

As one would expect, there are quite a few different Fortnite designs available as well as two different styles: a reclining style with wheels and a rocker chair that features a pedestal base. Normally priced between $200 and $300, the Fortnite chairs are all marked down between $104 and $156 right now, a great price for any gaming chair. All of them are part of the reliable Respawn by OFM line of gaming chairs, which are known for their more affordable price tag and ergonomic support.

The Fortnite gaming chairs are only on sale until Monday, August 17, so you’ve got the weekend to peruse the deals and grab a new chair for your gaming setup. Be sure to check out Newegg’s other deals as there are discounts on non-Fortnite-themed chairs as well, and see our full roundup of the best budget gaming chairs under $200 for more options.

It’s hasn’t even been two weeks since Fall Guys‘ starting frustrating players and streamers around the world. Players, in a quest to not fail hilariously, have already started perfecting the top strategies for Slime Climb and other games–just qualifying for the next round isn’t good enough for them.

“These mini games are so contained so it’s fun seeing this happen, but we do want to keep them fresh,” Fall Guys designer Joe Walsh tells GameSpot. Walsh said the UK-based team at Mediatonic are brainstorming and testing ways to change existing mini games to keep them challenging.

Some ideas include adding the giant spinning obstacle from Jump Club to Perfect Match in order to make the fruit-based mini game even more stressful. Walsh also mentioned changing the structure of Fall Mountain so that players can’t get too adept at getting to the top first.

Fall Guys has seen millions of players hop onto its crowded servers since launching on August 4. Since then players have grown to hate team-based games for how impossible they can be if you land on a bad team. Team yellow has become the target of a meme for always losing, according to scores of Fall Guys players.

“We checked the stats and team yellow is just as good as winning as everyone else,” Walsh said. “We’re keeping an eye on it though, since these things have the possibility to become more than a meme.”

Players have said that they purposefully go after team yellow, sometimes sabotaging their own team, during team-game rounds in order to keep the meme going. The official Fall Guys Twitter account has even added to the craze while promoting an all-streamer tournament. Walsh hopes everyone can keep the back-and-forth light and not too frustrating.

The anti-team yellow sentiment has grown out of a general team game frustration for many players. Games like Fall Ball, Egg Scramble, and Jinx can be frustrating if you get paired with a bad squad or get outnumbered by other teams. Walsh says that this is partially by design despite how much players want them to be changed or removed.

“Team games are supposed to be an equalizer,” he said, also mentioning that they’ve considered an all-solo mini game playlist for those that are frustrated. “They give players who aren’t as great at the platforming sections a chance. It’s also just so funny to watch a team struggle to get eggs out of a basket.”

Walsh added that they have tried to sneak some surprising elements into the team games. There is a small chance that a giant chicken egg will spawn during Fall Ball. The team that scores with it gets five points. “We wanted help create those one in a million moments,” he said. “It’s an amazing story to tell when you come back from a five point deficit.”

Mediatonic has a number of other plans on the way. They’re “currently talking” with Twitch about deeper streaming integration. One idea is to let viewers control the cannons on Fall Mountain. Other ideas involve making streams more of a game show experience, although Walsh isn’t sure what that’d look like yet.

Walsh hopes that they can keep the momentum going with new mini games for years. “We want to keep everything fresh, even things like Perfect Match which we didn’t expect much from,” he said. “It’s really exciting.”

While the official reveal of Call of Duty 2020 has yet to happen, its teaser site now features Cold War references, a hint of things to come, and even a code that unlocks a door in Call of Duty: Warzone.

If you head to pawntakespawn.com/tv, you will be greeted by an old television set, VCR, phone, chess piece, and computer. The TV displays static, but if you click on the VHS tape above the VCR with 1961-62 written on it, a video appears on the screen with real-life footage of JFK, the space race, the civil rights movement, the Cuban missile crisis, the Laos Crisis, and more.

As the video continues to play, certain numbers will flash on the screen, including 37, 25, and 48. Additionally, the VCR will occasionally flash the text “WZ-H6-49285 163.”

@CharlieINTEL on Twitter followed these developing teases closely, and it was discovered that the H6 in the above code was a reference to the Farmland location in Call of Duty: Warzone.

Players, including @PrestigeIsKey, used the code from the VCR (49285163) on a door in Farmhouse that had a keypad, and it hid a secret room with further clues.

The Code on the VCR opens a door in Farmhouse (via @PrestigeIsKey) pic.twitter.com/j7Y2HP1tEl

— Call of Duty News (@charlieINTEL) August 14, 2020

Some of the documents found in the room include a list of chemical compounds and references to Venona, which was a US counterintelligence program that helped decrypt messages from the Soviet Union.

There are 5×5 matrices that were used to decipher these codes, and they make reference to other Warzone locations, including Quarry, Boneyard, and Prison. Furthermore, two code words – ZEPHYR and TRIDENT – were written on two of the documents.

And more: pic.twitter.com/5zXUCOvXLj

— Call of Duty News (@charlieINTEL) August 14, 2020

Below the TV, there is a sticky note that has /TANGLEDWEB and /EMC2 written on it. If you go to pawntakespawn.com/tangledweb and pawntakespawn.com/emc2, it takes you to two other pages with even more info.

/TANGLEDWEB features a typed out letter that discusses how “Wars are won not just on the battlefield, but behind closed doors.” It ends by saying, “know your history,” which recently appeared in Warzone last week as part of a flashing message on screen.

/EMC2 features another note that originally said “8/14 – DAY ONE: 1962-62.” Following the discovery in the Farmland, “8/15 – DAY TWO:” has been revealed, with the rest of the document being redacted.

There are four more redacted lines, possibly stating that we will get a new clue every day until a potential official reveal of Call of Duty 2020 on Wednesday, August 19.

Stay tuned to IGN for all future updates, all leading up to the official reveal of Call of Duty 2020 which, if leaks are correct, may be called Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.

While we don’t officially know much about this new Call of Duty, we do know that it is being developed by Treyarch and Raven Software and will integrated with Call of Duty: Warzone.

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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Update: Since Epic Games made this change, Fortnite has been banned from both Google Play and the App Store. In response, Epic Games filed lawsuits against both Google and Apple, alleging they are monopolizing software sales. It also had a 1984 parody video ready to go, directly going after Apple for its policies.

Original story follows:

Fortnite developer Epic Games has announced a platform-wide slash on the price for V-Bucks, the in-game currency used in its battle royale. Players will now be able to buy them for less, with up to 20% off.

The discount isn’t time-limited. Instead Epic Games is making the change permanent, but with a few caveats on some platforms. If you play Fortnite on PC or console–be it Xbox One, PS4, or Nintendo Switch–you won’t need to change a thing. The new prices will reflect from today and work with any of your payment methods. For example, 1000 V-Bucks will cost $8 instead of $10.

It’s really on mobile where the move starts showing some additional reasoning. Whether you play on Android or iPhone, Fortnite will now offer two methods of payment: using Epic Games’ new payment method, or the one provided by Google or Apple respectively. If you choose to go with Epic Game’s method, you’ll be able to take advantage of the discount. But prices will not change if you go through the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.

This shift is a way for Epic Games to escape the royalty charges that both platforms enforce, something founder Tim Sweeney has been vocally against for years. By creating its own payment method, Epic Games not only profits from each purchase more, but is able to charge players less without the need to cover off royalty fees. Apple and Google both currently take a 30% cut of all in-app purchases, but Epic says it will adjust pricing accordingly should this change in the future.

If you recently purchased V-Bucks and feel burned by the sudden discount, Epic Games will be rewarding any customers who made purchases between July 14, 2020 – August 13, 2020 with an additional 20% of their order to make up for the discount. All active Fortnite players will also receive the Shooting Starstaff Pickaxe as a gift from Epic Games.

Fortnite: Chapter 2’s Season 3 has been unlike ones that came before it. Other seasons have give players lore-filled storylines that culminated in map changes like last season’s The Device flood-causing live event. Season 3 hasn’t had much of a story at all, until yesterday.

“This thing is better than a season ending event,” Redditor HappyBananaBoi joked about Epic Game’s fight against Apple yesterday.

The Fortnite developer orchestrated a public back-and-forth with the tech giant after lowering the price of V-Bucks and setting up direct payments in order to get around paying Apple their 30% cut of sales on the App Store. Apple and Google both pulled Fortnite from their storefronts in response–Epic Games then filed lawsuits against both companies.

Epic also showcased a parody of Apple’s 1984 commercial mocking the company in Fortnite’s Party Royale mode yesterday to top it all off.

“This is the end of season event,” said Redditor saucygh0sty. Players were preparing for The Device event at this time last season, but now Android and iOS players won’t be able to participate in Season 4 unless Apple and Epic figure this out quickly.

Season 3 has already been rocky. Its start date and The Device event were delayed multiple times, the Joy Ride update that brought cars to the game was also delayed, and the content that has been released has been a mishmash of themes unlike the storylines of previous seasons. The delays could have been caused by the pandemic, although Epic hasn’t commented on how COVID-19 has affected its development cycles.

The entire map flooding, an astronaut crash-landing in the ocean, and the introduction of cars don’t have much in common in terms of an overarching storyline. While story and lore are far from the most important things in battle royales, Fortnite’s live events and storylines are a big reason why many players stick around. Some players have complained that partnerships, like the one with DC that resulted in an Aquaman skin and a rumored Wonder Woman skin, have been a bigger priority lately.

Up until yesterday it seemed like Season 3 was going to end quietly next week, but now Epic has grabbed players’ attention without updating the game. The #FreeFortnite hashtag isn’t trending on Twitter, but players are joking about vaulting apples from the game, writing #FreeFortnite in-game with building materials, and even smashing their iPads in order to do “[their] part in Fortnite Vs. Apple“

It’s unlikely we’ll get an in-game event before the end of the season, but players are more than occupied with Fortnite’s real-life updates to care.