Author: Trafficblast

Lo-fi Chill Beats To Test Loading Times On PS5 Vs PS4 Pro

Among the big selling points of the PlayStation 5 is its NVMe SSD, which speeds up loading times in a pretty significant way. But the SSD doesn’t just speed the loading of PS5 games–it also has a noticeable effect on the loading times of backwards-compatible PS4 games as well, slicing the amount of time you’ll spend staring at splash screens and reading gameplay tips on some of your favorite titles.

A whole lot of PS4 games are backwards-compatible, and we’ve tested 10 of them on the PS5 against the PS4 Pro to see just how big the improvements are. Check out the video above to see the differences in load times.

We compared the PS5 to the PS4 Pro’s internal hard drive, and in a lot of cases, the difference was pretty stark. Destiny 2 in particular shaves minutes off its load times, but you’ll see at least moderate improves on all the games featured here.

We’ve got lots of PS5 and next-generation console coverage with more on the way in the coming days and weeks, so be sure to check it out on GameSpot.com.

18 Best Minecraft Gifts 2020: Lego, Games, And More Gift Ideas For Fans

With how much this year may have brought some people down, the holidays are a great time to cheer your loved ones up with the wholesome things they love, and there are few things as purely fun and inviting as Minecraft. The block-building survival game first took the world by storm over 10 years ago and has yet to let go.

Because of Minecraft’s massive popularity, many companies have licensed the series to make loads of great toys, games, and other products over the years. In fact, the sheer quantity of Minecraft items out there can make shopping for fans of the game a real task, but fortunately, we’ve scoured the internet for you and found the best Minecraft gifts for Christmas 2020. Keep in mind the prices shown below reflect an item’s list price–with holiday sales in full swing, you could find a discount when you click through.

If you’re looking for more great gift ideas, take a look at our 2020 holiday gift guide, which includes the best Nintendo gifts, PlayStation gifts, and Xbox gifts as well as Fortnite gifts, Animal Crossing gifts, gaming Christmas ornaments, and much more. There are also a number of non-gaming guides, such as the best Lego sets, Funko Pop gifts, and Baby Yoda gifts.

$30

Minecraft is a fantastic game that lets players build anything they want and then protect it from the creatures of the night. Of course, if you’re looking at this gift guide, your loved one likely already owns the game. However, with the PS5 and Xbox Series X coming out, you may want to get them a new copy if they’re switching from Xbox to PlayStation (or vice versa). These current-gen physical copies will work on the next-gen consoles that have disc drives (not the Xbox Series S or PS5 Digital). And there’s always the Switch version, which they can play on the go or at home, thanks to its portability.

$30

Minecraft Dungeons is a fun, charming action-RPG where players make their way through dungeons and fight hordes of enemies. Players can work together in defeating these waves of monsters as well as finding new paths and looting loads of gear. If you’re buying for a Minecraft fan, it’s a good supplement to the original experience. It’s also a great time to jump in as we’re about to see new Minecraft Dungeons DLC released and crossplay added as well.

$50

PowerA’s Minecraft Grass Block wireless controller is a great option for Nintendo Switch owners. Not only is it cheaper than the Switch Pro Controller; it also features remappable back buttons and motion controls, though it does use AA batteries (which are included) for up to 30 hours of gameplay at a time. It also connects directly to the Switch, which means you don’t need to plug in and keep track of a USB dongle.

$32

Lego and Minecraft go together like spaghetti and meatballs, and this Steve BigFig is one of the best sets you can buy. It’s also an easy build with only 159 pieces. Of course, you can’t forget Steve’s little parrot buddy, who comes with the set so Steve won’t be so lonely.

$10

Steve also comes in a smaller size, and if you’re looking for a gift that would work as a stocking stuffer, this is the Lego set to go with. At 74 pieces, you get Steve, an enemy skeleton, a fox, a wolf, and a nice little plot of land that has a very nice block of TNT just waiting to help its owner blow up that skeleton.

$24

Weighing in at 372 pieces, the Blaze Bridge Lego set is for those looking to put some time into their construction. This set lets its owner build a flame-covered bridge populated by a number of mini-figures, including one equipped with a diamond sword and armor set.

$60

Ninjas are cool, and with this Lego set, builders can use the ninja Kai minifigure to protect the village from pillagers. It’s an important task, too, as this village is full of valuable trinkets like full diamond armor. There’s also a cute cat, pig, and a ton of other bricks that bring this set up to 562 pieces.

$16

Another great option for a stocking stuffer, this Minecraft survival pack comes with Steve in addition to a bed, chest, weapons, and crafting table. This is perfect for the kid who’s not as fond of building with Legos and just wants to get right to playing.

$22

These heavy-duty, die-cast metal figurines are really cool. This pack includes a number of iconic characters and enemies, including Steve and Alex as well as the iconic zombie and Enderman. At $22, that’s almost a dollar a figure, making this a great deal and an excellent gift for any Minecraft fan.

$17

Halloween may be behind us, but it’s always fun to dress up and pretend. This officially licensed Minecraft diamond sword is an excellent plastic addition to any fan’s inventory and will help complete their blocky costume.

$46

There is a lot to know about Minecraft, and it can be too much to take in at times. That’s where the official Minecraft guide collection comes in handy. This box set is made up of eight books that cover almost everything a player needs to know and would make a great gift for someone wanting to improve their creations or make it further into the deep mines. The included books cover ocean survival, farming, PVP minigames, enchantments and potions, Redstone, Survival mode, Creative mode, and–of course–the Nether and the End.

$40

The Builders & Biomes board game is a great way for the family to bond over Minecraft together. Its rules are easy to pick up and learn, so don’t worry if you don’t know anything about Minecraft. It comes with 64 resource cubes, 64 building and monster cards, 36 weapon tokens, and many more pieces that make each new adventure unique. This allows for new strategies every time you play, adding to the game’s fun and replayability.

$6

It’s hard to beat the classics, and Uno is one of the best out there. This special edition features the exact same rules as classic Uno, but it’s adorned with Minecraft characters, enemies, and other game elements fans will recognize. It’s also a great way to introduce young fans to the classic card game.

$20

Plushies always make excellent gifts, and this Shoulder Cat plush is adorable. Featuring the same blocky design as the cat you find in Minecraft, this one stretches and wraps around the wearer’s neck, serving as a comfy friend.

$20

When it comes to Minecraft’s creatures, nothing beats the pig. It’s pink, cute, and makes a great companion. This particular plush features the animal with a saddle, so it’s ready to take your loved one anywhere they go. Standing at 6.5 inches tall, this plush would make a great companion for a young Minecraft fan.

$20

Giving the pig a run for its money, this Minecraft wolf plush is absolutely adorable. It’s called the Untamed Wolf plush, but there’s no doubt the Minecraft fan in your life will be able to tame this cute beast and make them a part of the family.

$43

Perhaps one of the coolest gift ideas on this list, the Minecraft Glowstone lamp resembles an in-game lamp and actually lights up. It comes with a sturdy wooden base and stands around 11 inches tall, making it an excellent addition to a nightstand or play area.

$36

With all the gifts your loved one is likely to get this Christmas, they’ll need something to store them in. This 15-inch square storage cube will do the trick wonderfully. Emulating a Minecraft grass block, it’ll also look great in a Minecraft fan’s room.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

9 Hidden PS5 Features

We know a lot about the PlayStation 5, like its graphical prowess, performance capabilities, and of course, its games. But Sony has been tight-lipped about the PS5 UI, and crucially, all the new things we’ll be able to do within it.

In the video above, we walk you through nine new things that you can now do on the PlayStation 5. Some are hidden deep in menus but are well worth seeking out, like setting your camera, subtitle, and difficulty preferences at a system level to automatically apply to games that support it. There are also cool new changes to Trophies, and additions to Profiles, like the Accolade system and being able to see how much playtime you’ve put into a game. We also point out hidden PlayStation symbols on the DualSense controller and on the PlayStation 5 console itself.

There are cool tweaks to the Game Library, how you store PS4 games, and changes to your screenshots and video clips. There’s a lot to go through, so watch the video to get the most from your PS5.

For our PlayStation 5 review, check out the site or our YouTube channel. We also have lots of other PlayStation 5 content, including load time comparisons between the PS4 and PS5, and a look at backwards compatibility.

The Ten Best Black Friday Deals Today (Apple Watch, iPhone, and AirPods Trifecta)

For those of you who want to get into the Apple mobile ecosystem but have shied away because of the price, today might just be your entry ticket. You can get a new 2020 iPhone Se, new 2020 Apple Watch, and the newest generation AirPods, all for about the cost an iPhone 11 by itself. Check these deals out and the rest of the top ten Black Friday deals below (you can get all of them today).

#1: New Apple Watch SE for $229.99

Today the new Apple Watch SE has dropped to an all-time price low. It’s $50 below MSRP and $30 less that the previous “Black Friday” price from earlier in the week. The 2020 Apple Watch SE features a large Retina OLED display, 2x faster CPU than the Series 3, heart rate monitoring, GPS, swimproof design, and haptic feedback.

The Best Black Friday Deals So Far

[poilib element=”commerceDeal” parameters=”slug=daily-deals-november-6-2020″]

More Video Game Deals

[poilib element=”commerceDeal” parameters=”slug=daily-deals-games-roundup”]

______________________________
Eric Song is IGN’s deal curator and spends roughly 1/4 of his income on stuff he posts. Check out his latest Daily Deals Article and subscribe to his IGN Deals Newsletter.

The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 2: 18 Easter Eggs & Things You Missed

The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 2 takes Mando (Pedro Pascal) and The Child aka Baby Yoda on a series of sidequests as they continue trying to take The Child home. The duo make a new frog lady friend and run into some trouble along the way involving some terrifying spiders.

This episode had many references to The Mandalorian Chapter 6 – “The Prisoner”. There were also quite a few Easter eggs and Star Wars references hidden in plain sight. Mando visits Mos Eisely Cantina, there’s a fun nod to Galaxy’s Edge, Dave Filoni appears again as X-Wing pilot Trapper Wolf, and the frog lady is voiced by a well known Star Wars voice actor from The Clone Wars.

PS5: Everything You Need To Know! | Generation Next

It’s finally here, the day we can finally tell you everything we know about the PlayStation 5. Sony’s new console is almost here and, ahead of its November 12 release date, review embargoes have been lifted. GameSpot’s review is available to read on the website or watch on YouTube. But, of course, the Generation Next team is also here to answer your questions.

Last week we asked you what you wanted to know most about the PS5 and did our best to answer the questions, while staying within the boundaries of the many legal documents we signed. However, now we have permission to tell all, so we’ve gone back and grabbed a few more questions to answer.

In the episode, Jordan puts your questions to Lucy and Tamoor, who talk about UI, how PS4 games run, whether Boost Mode is helping, if we’ve tested Blu-ray movies, and what the 3D audio is like. If that isn’t enough, they also dig into the DualSense’s battery life, how loud the PS5 is, download speeds, and more.

There’s also some chat about Spider-Man: Miles Morales, one of the games that will be available for the PS5 at launch. Jordan reviewed the game, while Lucy and Tamoor have both completed it. So, tune in to find out whether the PS5 is an exciting new future for PlayStation owners and whether Miles Morales is as good as Insomniac’s original Spider-Man game.

PS4 Pro Vs PS5: Ghost Of Tsushima

Much has been made about the PlayStation 5’s backwards compatibility with PlayStation 4 games. Sony has confirmed that 99% of all PS4 games will play on its new system, but some titles will be receiving patches to optimize the experience.

One such title is 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima, which already looked stunning on PlayStation 4. It’s been optimized for PS5, taking full advantage of Game Boost, with an option in the game to allow frame rates up to 60fps. In the above video, we compare the PS4 version of the game running on a PS4 Pro to the PS5. Both were captured in resolution mode.

For more on the PlayStation 5, including in-depth looks at its backwards compatibility, as well as reviews for its launch games like Astro’s Playroom and Spider-Man: Miles Morales, keep your eyes peeled to GameSpot.

Chappelle’s Show Hits Netflix & HBO Max; Here’s Why One Episode Is Missing

It’s now pretty normal that when an older show hits streaming services, a few episodes don’t make the transition for one reason or another. The Comedy Central classic, Chappelle’s Show, is now streaming on HBO Max and Netflix, but without a particular episode.

Starting November 1, HBO Max made Chappelle’s Show, Reno 911!, Inside Amy Schumer, Nathan For You, and Key & Peele available for streaming. Netflix, too, is streaming Chappelle as of the first of the month.

Neither service, though, includes Season 2, Episode 6: “The Internet & Moment in the Life of Lil Jon.”

So what’s going on? The episode includes a variety of sketches, but the one keeping the episode offline is titled “If the Internet Was a Real Place.” The 2004 sketch sees Dave Chappelle going to a physical representation of the internet; a mall, basically. Here, Chappelle encounters multiple instances of people promising him sexual enhancements, a free downloads store, and offers for increasingly sketchy adult content.

Here, Chappelle encounters porn star Ron Jeremy, who asks Chappelle if he wants to watch him have sex before taking him behind closed doors to view socialite Paris Hilton’s leaked sex tape.

In a report, The Daily Beast reports cites a source that saysthat the episode was first removed from Comedy Central’s streaming platforms and CBS All Access in June when Jeremy was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault.

The Daily Beast notes that this isn’t a choice by HBO Max and Netflix; the streaming rights exclude this particular episode. This isn’t the first instance of this happening with a Comedy Central property, either. When South Park hit streaming earlier this year, five episodes were missing in action. Meanwhile, over on Disney+, The Simpsons is missing the episode “Stark Raving Dad,” and Adult Swim has pulled episodes of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, The Boondocks, and The Shivering Truth as well. A few NBC shows have been recently re-edited or removed due to depictions of blackface, including The Office, Scrubs, and Community.

Some studios have taken a different route with some more prominent content; Disney is adding disclaimers about problematic depictions to more and more of its content, following in the footsteps of Warner Bros.’ treatment of Looney Tunes. This lets the content stay available for viewing without skipping over the fact that it has aged poorly. That missing episode of Chappelle’s Show has a bunch of great sketches, and we’d love to see the episode edited to remove that particular sketch and brought back online.

Image credit: Getty Images/Lester Cohen

Spider-Man 3: Tom Holland Posts First Photo From Set

The next Spider-Man movie has started filming and star Tom Holland has shared the first, albeit cheeky, photo from the set of him reprising the role of Spider-Man.

In what appears to be the first photos from the set of the third Spider-Man movie, Holland is seen wearing his black and red suit from Spider-Man: Far From Home. Over his Spider-Man mask, however, he’s wearing another mask.

“Wear a mask, I’m wearing two,” Holland writes in the Instagram captions.

A third Spider-Man movie was almost in doubt after Sony and Disney failed to reach an initial agreement that would see Tom Holland’s web-slinger continue to be in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

But a deal was ultimately reached and a new Spider-Man movie is planned to be released on December 17, 2021.

While plots are under wraps, Sony announced that Jamie Foxx will reprise his role as Electro for the third film. Foxx was last seen portraying the character in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 which was not part of the MCU and instead part of a film series were Andrew Garfield played Spider-Man.

[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=every-delayed-movie-due-to-coronavirus-so-far&captions=true”]

Doctor Strange, played by MCU’s Benedict Cumberbatch, is also slated to appear in the film as a mentor to Peter. The appearance of Strange and Electro has fueled speculation that the third Spider-Man movie will tackle the spider-verse in some way.

No word on when the Spider-Man 3 will wrap filming, but Sony has allegedly said a first look will arrive sometime in December. Though considering filming just started it’s unclear how in-depth the first look will be.

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Fortnite Is Giving V-Bucks To iOS And Mac Players Who Are Locked Out Of Updates

Epic is giving V-Bucks bonuses to Fortnite players on iOS and Mac platforms, likely as an incentive to retain players who can’t access Fortnite’s updates due to Epic’s ongoing lawsuit with Apple and Google.

Here’s how it works: For iOS players, Epic will give you a V-Bucks bonus equal to the amount of unspent V-Bucks purchased through the App Store. For Mac players, Epic will also give you a V-Bucks bonus equal to the amount of unspent V-Bucks purchased from Epic. The bonus is expected to hit accounts by November 9.

Starting from Chapter 2 – Season 4’s launch on August 27, players on Apple devices haven’t been able to access Fortnite’s new patches and content. Players on iOS devices can only play with other iOS device users in Fortnite’s Chapter 2, Season 3’s 13.40 version.

Epic has been engaged with Apple and Google over a dispute over App store fees. The battle royale developer bypassed the App store by allowing players to directly purchase V-Bucks from Epic. Apple and Google take a 30% fee from all transactions in App stores, and get nothing from purchases made directly from Epic.

Needless to say, both tech companies did not like the situation. Apple and Google removed Fortnite from App stores and have been engaged in a lengthy lawsuit with Epic. You can read GameSpot’s full primer on what’s going on with Epic’s Fortnite Ban and its legal battle with Apple/Google.

Now Playing: Fortnite – Fortnitemares 2020: Midas’ Revenge Gameplay Trailer

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.