Author: Trafficblast

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As is the way every year, Black Friday is expected to have a slew of deals that can save you a ton of money on all manners of tech and gadgets. Best Buy, Target, and GameStop have all released their Black Friday 2020 ads, but you won’t have to wait until Thanksgiving weekend to snag yourself any sweet discounts. As part of its early Black Friday sale, Walmart has a TCL 55-inch 4K TV for only $148.

This 4K TV may not have HDMI 2.1 ports, but it’s still perfectly capable of displaying your PS5 and Xbox Series X gameplay with no problem. It won’t be able to take advantage of HDMI 2.1’s specific features, such as VRR and 4K120Hz, but plenty of games only run at 4K and 60Hz, so it’ll be more than enough to provide a great experience. If you’d like to get a 4K TV with all the bells and whistles the next-gen consoles can take advantage of, check out our guide to the best 4K TV for the PS5 and Xbox Series X.

This deal just went live alongside a slew of other discounts as part of Walmart’s ongoing Black Friday Deals for Days Event. The online-only sale features lower prices on laptops, Bluetooth speakers, and movies. Walmart plans to release even more deals starting November 14, both online and in stores.

If you’re looking for more great deals, check out Walmart’s Black Friday ad. It includes a lot of different Blu-rays at lower prices and more, so now’s an excellent time to read up and get prepared for the big sales.

It sure seems like Netflix cancels a lot of shows. We listed 13 canceled Netflix shows in August, and then 11 more by the time we revisited the question in November. But Netflix says it’s no different from other services.

Netflix’s Global Head of TV, Bela Bajaria, said at the Paley International Council Summit (via Deadline) that the service renews two thirds of its shows.

“If you look at season twos and more, we actually have a renewal rate of 67%, which is industry standard,” Bajaria said. “We also do make a large amount of first season shows, which sometimes feels that we have more first season cancelations, but if you look at the renewal rate, it’s really strong.”

One thing that sets Netflix apart, Bajaria said, is that the company orders full seasons rather than pilots. That “results sometimes in more season one cancelations. Even with that, I still believe a season order is a better creative expression of a writer’s idea, so I still think that’s the right model for us.”

Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos chimed in, too, to explain that one of the problems Netflix faces is the changing way in which TV success is measured.

“The things that marked success prior to Netflix and OTT really had been getting to syndication, that was the goal and anything that didn’t get to 100 episodes…didn’t feel like a success, whereas I think many shows can be a success for being exactly what they are and you could tell that story in two seasons or one season or five seasons. I think it gets talked about so much because it’s measured against the old way of doing things,” Sarandos said. Television viewership habits have changed more in the past 10 or 15 years than they did in decades before that thanks to the advent of streaming and cable video recording, and things like Nielsen ratings that were once reliable are no longer go-to metrics.

Sarandos also said that while it does feel sometimes like Netflix cancels more shows than others, stories about Netflix cancelations are treated as “disproportionately” big news. And yes, we’re still mad about GLOW being canceled.

The next generation has arrived. Both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X / Series S launch this week, which means you may be upgrading from your PS4 or Xbox One hardware. The PS5 and Xbox Series X/S will, for the most part, let you continue using your prior games library with better performance and visual upgrades, and that may prompt you to offload your old PS4 or Xbox One to save space or make a little extra cash. If you’re looking to trade-in your current-gen console, here are some options to consider.

GameStop

GameStop is known for trading used games and hardware, so naturally, it may be the first place you look to trade-in your old console. The games retailer previously offered a more generous amount of trade credit if used toward the preorder of a new console, but that offer appears to be over now that the new consoles are out. The updated trade-in values for your old consoles are slightly less now, but they’re still enough to buy a few games or accessories to go with your new hardware.

• Nintendo Switch, PS4 Pro, Xbox One X — $175
• PS4 Slim 1TB — $140
• Nintendo Switch Lite — $125
• PS4 500GB — $100
• Xbox One 500GB — $75

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Amazon

Online retail giant Amazon offers trade-in values for electronics, with value awarded in Amazon gift cards after you ship it to a trade center (which is free). Amazon’s trade-in process takes longer than the instant turnaround of going to a GameStop store, and the trade values are mostly lower. But the free shipping is convenient, and an Amazon gift card can be used for a much wider range of products than GameStop offers.

• PS4 Pro — $155
• PS4 — $150
• PS4 Slim 1TB — $140
• Xbox One X — $135
• Nintendo Switch — $130
• Nintendo Switch Lite — $67.50
• Xbox One 500 GB — $55

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DeCluttr

Resale site Decluttr uses a similar model as Amazon, offering free shipping for your used goods. Unlike Amazon, though, DeCluttr pays in cash via direct deposit, PayPal, or check. The values are roughly comparable to Amazon for most models.

• Xbox One X, PS4 Pro — $140
• PS4 Slim 1TB — $110
• PS4 1TB — $100
• Xbox One S — $90
• Xbox One — $50

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Charitable Giving

If you don’t need the extra money and just want your old console to help make some kids happy, consider donating it. Hospitals are often looking for games and hardware to keep kids in their pediatric ward entertained. However, be sure to call the hospital ahead of time to see if they’re currently taking donations. You can also rely on an organization like Gamers Outreach, which will either repurpose your console or use the funds raised from selling it.

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If your console is a bit more up-to-date than your television, the lack of an Apple TV+ app on Sony and Microsoft’s systems might have meant that you’re yet to check the service out. As of now, though, this app is available on all current systems from both companies–the PS4, Xbox One, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.

After making Apple TV available on Xbox systems earlier this week, Apple has now made it available on PlayStation, too. The app is now available as a free download on all systems, and a continued subscription is $5 a month.

This means that owners of these consoles can now access acclaimed shows like Mythic Quest, Ted Lasso, The Morning Show, and movies like Defending Jacob, Greyhound, and Beastie Boys Story. As a show about game development, Mythic Quest is particularly worthwhile.

Apple TV+ is also the exclusive home of Peanuts, which is important over Christmas.

You’ll also be able to access Apple TV+ through Apple One, an all-in-one subscription that includes Apple Music and Apple Arcade, too. Before then, you can try Apple TV+ with a free 7-day trial.

The PS5’s DualSense controller’s in-built mic is definitely going to be useful for players who don’t have a headset handy, but it could be a nightmare for anyone who forgets it’s on. The on-by-default microphone has already caused headaches for those previewing the console before its November 12 release, with the microphone broadcasting private conversations or frustrated comments not meant for team members to hear.

The issue was first brought to light by PlayStation LifeStyle’s Chandler Wood, who accidentally broadcast a private conversation with his wife while participating in a multiplayer preview session. Wood also mentioned that a few of the voices he could hear in the session didn’t sound like they intended for them to be heard by others in-game.

While the mic will definitely have interesting applications for single-player games, as well as making it easier for people who want to use voice chat in multiplayer, having it on by default seems like a recipe for disaster. Luckily muting it is easy–there’s a small button near the mic, below the PlayStation button, that will mute the mic and show an orange indicator light.

This solution only works if players know they have to mute it, however. Hopefully developers will be able to address the issue and mute the mic by default–at least where it’s being used for team chat.

Want to get your hands on the PS5 for launch day? It won’t be easy, but you can check out our launch day buying guide if you’re feeling lucky.

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Demon’s Souls on PS5 is a sight to behold. It feels somewhat reductive to focus on how pretty it looks, but having played a handful of hours, it’s currently what commands my attention the most. As people around the world invest in expensive new consoles, it’s incredibly validating to play a game that is clearly taking a stride forward, so forgive me if I sound a bit superficial–but good grief is it pretty.

In Demon’s Souls, The Nexus serves as a sort of prison for the wayward souls of those who hunt monsters invading the kingdom of Boletaria. It’s the first in a long line of From Software hub locations where the player can seek solace from the ruthlessness of the world around them. To me, however, the PS3 version of The Nexus had an ominous quality and, although it was certainly a safe harbor, it also had frailty to it–like a faint glimmer of light in an endless void of encroaching darkness.

Arriving to the PS5 version of The Nexus, however, was genuinely overwhelming. Admittedly, some of that can be attributed to intense nostalgia for a game that sparked an obsession with the sub-genre it pioneered, but to chalk it up to just that would disregard the amount of work Bluepoint has done to bring Demon’s Souls to life the way From Software originally envisioned it. And that, I think, is what seems to be the underlying goal of this remake: Take the vision for Demon’s Souls, stay true to it, and express it in a way that From Software couldn’t back in 2009. And though I’m still quite early in the game, it currently feels like Bluepoint has been successful in this regard.

The Nexus is now far more striking, and the thoughts and feelings it was intended to impart are more keenly delivered. It’s like a forgotten place of worship, where the only congregation that remains is doomed to be a bulwark against an unstoppable tide of evil. And yet, returning to it is comforting. It’s melancholic, but also hopeful, giving you the solace and calm needed to gather yourself and venture out once more. This isn’t just achieved through the technical work undertaken by Bluepoint, such as higher-resolution textures, detailed models, and some nice lighting. There’s also the studio’s own artistic expression at work, and many of the flourishes in the game are Bluepoint’s own. Crucially, thus far these haven’t upstaged or upended what From Software laid out, which speaks to the understanding the studio clearly has for the vision.

Yes, the bundles of candles scattered around The Nexus emanate pleasing pockets of light thanks to the power of the PS5, but Bluepoint has also rebuilt and redesigned parts of The Nexus to lean into its purpose. The candles are deliberately placed so that, amidst the strange otherworldly quality the environment has, there’s also a warmness radiating from it. Towering statues of saintly figures are bathed in brilliant light and, accompanied by a new version of The Nexus’ theme, with its somber guitar, soft violin, and soothing choir, the familiar hub can be a place that is genuinely moving to be in.

That feeling of Bluepoint bringing out the finer details on a picture painted by From Software extends to the way it plays too. On the one hand, Demon’s Souls on PS5 is what it has always been, to the point where my experience with the original meant I could get off to a confident start (though not always a successful one; this is a Souls game, after all). On the other hand, tweaks, changes, and in some cases, new additions also make it feel distinct. My faint memory of enemy placements meant that some of that element of surprise–and the more devious tricks the game pulls on you–doesn’t land as hard. However, that hasn’t made the game any less enjoyable to play.

Demon’s Souls always felt like a slower-paced game than the others in the lineage. It demanded more consideration (and was a bit more punishing of mistakes), and it required precision in movement as well as timing. That is very much still the case, but Bluepoint has elevated the moment-to-moment experience by giving a sense of heft to everything. From walking to running to rolling, there’s a real feeling of exertion created by stunning animations, rich audio, and the physics governing it all. Even though I’ve played this game before, and completed every Souls game that followed it, playing this reminds me of that feeling of trying to push a boulder uphill that I first had when I played the original Demon’s Souls on PS3.

Gallery

The combat still feels deliberate, as it was in the original, but Bluepoint has vastly improved the feedback you get, which makes connecting a sword with the armor of an enemy knight, or the flesh of a wandering warrior, incredibly impactful. The booming sound that arises when you perfectly time a swing of your shield to parry an incoming attack, and the subsequent thrust of the sword delivered with such ferocity that the enemy is lifted into the air and slammed into the ground made me wince the first time I did it. To top it off, the DualSense’s subtle vibrations during all of this made each subsequent parry and riposte attack as satisfying.

There’s much more to say about Demon’s Souls for PS5, but that can wait for the full review. I am eager to get back to playing it, and that should say a lot. Early signs are good for the game. At this point, we’ve come to expect Bluepoint to put out top-notch remakes, but this is a game that feels like the studio is flexing its own creative muscles too, and as I venture deeper into Boletaria I’m excited to see what else it has in store.

Developer Bluepoint Studios’ remake of Demon’s Souls is finally here, releasing for PlayStation 5. The remake launches about 11 years after the original Demon’s Souls, developed by From Software for PlayStation 3. Don’t know about y’all, but we think that a comparison is in order.

In the video above, we play through Demon’s Souls on PS3 and Demon’s Souls remake on PS5. When seen side-by-side, the differences of when the two games were made, and the changes brought about by 11 years of technological progress, are fairly obvious. However, you can also see how similar the two games are as well–the remake may give Demon’s Souls a fresh coat of paint but it’s still the same hard-as-hell game with a terrifying atmosphere that From Software released back in 2009.

Demon’s Souls is the comparatively niche older brother to the rest of From Software’s Soulsborne games, which include Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, Bloodborne, and Dark Souls III. Though it’s not as popular as these games, Demon’s Souls is pretty much the start of what would later be called the soulslike genre–even if the genre’s popularity and acceptance into the mainstream is more directly connected to Dark Souls.

Demon’s Souls releases as an exclusive launch title for PlayStation 5.

Arnold Schwarzenegger will once again step into the top-secret shoes of a super-spy. This time, though, he’ll do it on the small screen. A new, as-yet-untitled series starring and executive produced by the action star is heading to Netflix, Deadline reports.

The series is created by Nick Santora, who is also writing the Jack Reacher television show for Amazon Prime. Along with Schwarzenegger, the show will star Monica Barbaro (Top Gun: Maverick) as his daughter. The series marks Schwarzenegger’s first attempt at scripted television. The last time he appeared on television was for his season of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice.

The series comes to Netflix via Skydance Television, which previously brought Grace & Frankie and Altered Carbon to Netflix, as well as Jack Ryan to Amazon and the upcoming Foundation to Apple TV. There’s no date set just yet. Schwarzenegger has played all manner of gun-wielding authority figure throughout his career from Colonel John Matrix in Commando to Sherriff Ray Owens in The Last Stand. This series, though, can’t help but call to mind the 1994 Schwarzenegger vehicle True Lies, in which he played a spy whose identity was secret even from his wife, played by Jamie Lee Curtis.

Most recently, Schwarzenegger reprised his role as the benevolent T-800 in Terminator: Dark Fate. In our review, we praised his return to the role, as well as the movie for both breaking free of a string of bad Terminator movies and giving the franchise a fresh jumping-off point. Schwarzenegger may be 73, but he’s clearly still ready to throw down on camera.