Author: Trafficblast

Nintendo Switch Online subscribers have three new games coming to them this month, including one of the SNES’ best classic platformers. Donkey Kong Country is joining the console’s SNES line-up, alongside SNES wrestling game Natsume Championship Wrestling and the EA-published NES title The Immortal.

These titles will join the current line-up on July 15.

Donkey Kong Country, a Rareware classic, is the highlight here–a SNES title with (for the time) jaw-dropping graphics that eventually begat the excellent Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze on Switch. It’s a great platformer, although it was also included on the SNES Classic Edition, so if you own one of those you already have access to it. We’re holding out hope that Donkey Kong Country 2 will eventually make its way to the Switch.

Natsume Championship Wrestling is an adaptation of a Japanese wrestling game, featuring 12 fighters and more than 50 different moves. The Switch is light on wrestling games, and it looks like fun.

The Immortal, meanwhile, is a Diablo-style action game where you play as a wizard conquering a labyrinth. It’s something a bit different from the other titles available on the platform.

The Japanese line-up, which you can also access on Switch (as it’s region free) by creating a Japanese account to download it and then accessing from the account with your Online subscription, has an exclusive game this month too. The original SNES Shin Megami Tensei is being added, although it will likely be difficult to play if you cannot read Japanese. Gun-Dec is also coming, which is already available in English as Vice: Project Doom.

All previously released NES and SNES games remain available as well for subscribers. The last drop was in May, and included the excellent Japanese puzzle title Panel de Pon.

PUBG Mobile, the iOS/Android version of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, has launched its first-ever exclusive map. The new battle royale arena is called Livik, and its designed with quick matches in mind. Livik arrives as part of the 0.19.0 patch, which introduces many new elements to the game.

The update is available now, and will take up about 1.84 GB on Android and 2.13 GB on iOS, so set some space aside. The update, detailed on Reddit, introduces many changes and additions, but the map is the highlight.

Livik is a Nordic-style map that measures just 2km by 2km. 52 players can dive in, and matches are guaranteed to end within 15 minutes, so expect a lot of early bloodshed. The map is still in its beta stage, so it’s not quite feature complete yet, but you can play it now.

The map will also get two exclusive weapons, the SMG: P90 and MK 12 marksman rifle, as well as an exclusive Monster Truck. Experimental Trial Weapon Crates will be coming to the map at a later date, which will be regular weapons with slightly beefed up stats.

A new themed mode is also being added in Classic Mode to the Erangel and Miramar maps. Spark the Flame is a mode where statues and camps have been added to the maps, and burning the smaller statues dotted around the place will drop supplies and event items.

Spark the Flame is also the name of Royale Pass Season 14, which will be available on July 14. Here’s what the pass will introduce:

• To celebrate the 2nd Anniversary of Royale Pass, the Roaring Dragon and Dragon Hunter-themed rewards from Season 5 will return.
• A RP Prime subscription collaboration with Google is available. Includes both Prime and Prime Plus, which can be subscribed to simultaneously. Supports monthly, quarterly, and yearly subscription. Collect 300 or 900 RP Vouchers every month, along with redemption discounts and Airplane Ranking display perks (only available for Google at this time; available soon for other players).
• Consolidated page for RP perks. Instantly view consecutive purchase perks and preview other exclusive RP perks.
• Added an RP Crate Luck Event with amazing rewards.
• There is a chance to display an RP-related message when returning to the lobby after a match.
• Improved display of Airplane Ranking and other content in-battle.

A huge range of changes, updates, and fixes have been introduced in patch 0.19.0, so it’s worth checking out the full list on Reddit if you’re interested.

PUBG Mobile has been a major success, earning over $3 billion worldwide.

Designing and producing a gaming laptop has to be tough. There’s only so much you can do to differentiate the design, features and components from the competition. Recently we saw Asus put an LED matrix of lights in the lid of the ROG Zephyrus G14, giving the laptop a completely unique feature. Now, the company is trying to distance itself even further from the competition by adding a second screen on the base of the ROG Zephyrus Duo 15. Yes, it looks as wild and cool as it sounds.

The added panel comes with a hefty price tag, though. The ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 we tested comes in at $3,699. There are a few different build options, but whatever Duo 15 you end up with is going to cost you.

Specs

Here are the specifications of the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 I’ve been testing:

• Model: Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 (GX550LXS-XS99)
• Display: 15.6-inch UHD (3840×2160), 14.09-inch 4K (3840×1100) touchscreen secondary display
• Processor: 10th Gen Intel Core i9-10980HK 2.4GHz (16M cache, 5.3GHz Max Turbo)
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super with Max-Q (8GB GDDR6)
• Memory: 32GB 3200Mhz DDR4
• OS: Windows 10 Pro
• Storage: 2TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD in Raid 0
• Webcam: N/A
• Ports: 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1, 1 x USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 with Power Delivery and Display Port, 1 x 3.5mm mic, 1 x 3.5mm audio out, 1 x RJ45
• Connectivity: WiFi 6 802.11ax, Bluetooth 5.0
• Dimensions: 14.2 x 10.6 x 0.8-inches (WxDxH)
• Weight: 5.5-pounds
• Price: $3,699

Design and Features

Before I dive deeper into the added display, let’s talk about the overall design. Without the second screen, the Duo 15 looks like most other gaming laptops. It has a gray exterior, with the ROG logo on the lid. It’s not a giant laptop, by any means, measuring 14.2 x 10.6 x 0.8-inches and weighing 5.5-pounds. It’s not a portable machine, of course, but you’ll have no issues lugging it around your home or office, and occasionally tossing it in your bag to take over to a friends house for a gaming session.

There are ports on three sides – a design feature I absolutely love. Being able to plug things like power, Ethernet or HDMI into the back of a laptop and out of sight provides a clean look on my desk. On the rear here, you’ll find I/O ports for Ethernet, USB 3.2 Gen 2 and HDMI 2.0b. On the left side is where the two audio jacks live, one for mic in and another for audio out, along with the charging adapter. On the right side is a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 Thunderbolt 3 port, and two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports.

The USB-C port not only makes it easy to connect newer smartphones and accessories but you can also use it to connect to any DisplayPort 1.4, Thunderbolt 3, and Power Delivery devices. You can also use it to charge and power the Duo 15 at up to 65W and use the laptop for everyday tasks.

The chiclet keyboard has 1.4mm of travel, with bright RGB lighting behind each key. There isn’t a ten-key number pad. Instead, in its place, you’ll find a trackpad with two physical left and right-click buttons.

 

Above the row for number keys and trackpad are function keys you can use for tasks like adjusting the volume and display brightness. There’s also a shortcut key to launch Asus Armory Crate and another to turn the additional screen on and off just above the touchpad.

As I said, it’s a pretty normal gaming build except for, well, that second display. Let’s take a closer look.

ScreenPad Plus

The additional screen, which Asus affectionately calls ScreenPad Plus, measures 14-inches and has a resolution of 3840×1100. When you open the lid of the laptop, the screen lifts to a 13-degree viewing angle. The angle is more than steep enough to view whatever’s on the touch-capable panel without having to worry about glare or readability if you’re sitting up and over it. At arm’s length, however, it’s not quite steep enough for me to read it without leaning in.

The justification for the second screen? Asus envisions users placing toolbars and additional apps on ScreenPad Plus, giving them full use of the main display while adding functionality through the narrower touchscreen just below it.

For example, you can use the ScreenPad Plus display to put your editing toolbars while using Photoshop. Or if you stream and use Xsplit, you can have your broadcast controls and video feed below the main display.

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All of this sounds useful, and certainly, it is, but it also feels like it’s very niche. In my nearly two weeks of testing and use, I eventually found a use for the ScreenPad Plus – opening the Armory Crate app to monitor system stats while I game, but even then, I can get most of those same stats as on-screen overlays through various apps and services.

I also tried using it to display folders and other miscellaneous windows while I performed more mundane and routine tasks, and it worked just fine, with the added benefit of working as a touchscreen. I could reach up from the keyboard and tap a button without having to move my mouse pointer all over the place.

I admit there are some who will find it an invaluable tool, and I see the potential benefit of ScreenPad Plus, I’m just not sold that it’s worth the added cost.

Performance and Gaming

The spec sheet of the Duo 15 reads more like a wishlist for a dream gaming laptop: 2TB of SSD storage, 32GB of 3200Mhz DDR4 memory, an Intel Core i9-10980HK, and an Nvidia RTX 2080 Super with Max-Q tuning.

Performance and storage space need not be a worry when using the Duo 15, and the benchmarks back it up. Here’s our comparison spreadsheet, putting the Duo 15 up against the Predator Triton 900 and MSI GS65 Stealth.

The Duo 15 matches or beats nearly every test, despite the Triton 900 boasting non-Max-Q tuned (though also non-Super) RTX 2080. And that performance carries over to real-world use, from doing routine and mundane tasks like checking email or scrolling through a spreadsheet, or gaming.

Speaking of gaming, I played a lot of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s Warzone battle royale mode during my testing and I can confirm, dear reader, this is one fast gaming rig. When adjusting the resolution down to 1080p, the Duo 15 averaged 152 fps according to Xbox Game Bar. That’s with ray tracing turned on and at high settings. Upping the resolution to full 4K, frame rates took the expected hit but still stayed at a very respectable and playable 65 FPS. You’ll have to make the call about which resolution and frame rate you’re happy with.

I also spent some time in Battlefield V, a game where I can truly tell the difference when ray tracing is enabled, and at Ultra settings, I saw an average frame rate of 117 at 1080p.

The fans aren’t terribly loud, perhaps because the ScreenPad Plus acts as a sound barrier. The fans are hidden under the screen, and have protective screens on them so you don’t have to worry about grabbing the laptop and putting your thumb into the fan when carrying it across the room. The speakers were loud enough that I felt comfortable playing without headphones when they were running at full tilt.

In Turbo mode, the GPU basically stayed at 86-degrees during any gaming session. Lowering the power mode to Performance slightly dropped frame rates, along with the GPU temp.

The keyboard keys are a little soft, but after a couple of days of use, I was typing and tapping my way across it without issue. The touchpad is present, but let’s be honest, you’re going to have a gaming mouse attached to the Duo 15 most of the time. That said, the touchpad can get the job done in a pinch. Just don’t expect to drag and drop a folder from one screen to another without running into the edge of the pad.

The 2TB SSD is more than enough space for all of my games and benchmark programs, with plenty of space to spare. It’s kind of wild, just a year ago, I could say the same thing about a 1TB main storage drive. But even that’s pushing it now.

Battery Life

Using IGN’s battery life benchmark test, where we play a video on repeat with the display brightness set to 50% and turn off extraneous features like keyboard backlighting, Bluetooth and location, the Duo 15’s battery lasted 142 minutes or 2 hours and 22 minutes.

That’s right in line with other gaming laptops I’ve tested, and just enough to watch a movie, but that’s about it.

Thankfully you can use a portable battery pack and the USB-C port to keep the battery going while you’re mobile.

Software

If you spend nearly $3,700 on a gaming laptop, you have a reasonable expectation for it to come with Windows 10, and maybe an extra app or two from the OEM that helps tweak performance. And with the Duo 15 you get all of that, but you also get the added bloatware of McAfee LiveSafe. How or why is this still a thing?

Not only is it annoying, but it’s an inconvenience. McAfee routinely displays passive-aggressive popups or reminders, letting you know you’re about to be at risk because your free trial only has so many days left. It’s a scare tactic, and it’s not okay.

In fact, a McAfee popup occurred during the first run of IGN’s battery benchmark test, forcing VLC to stop playing the video and a redo of the test.

Outside of that, the preinstalled software is more or less a standard affair as far as Asus gaming laptops go. Armory Crate is present, letting you fine-tune and tweak your system’s power settings, with various performance modes. I used Turbo mode for all gaming and benchmarking, but you can also pick from Performance, Silent and Windows.

Another useful piece of software installed on the Duo 15 is called Screen Xpert. It’s primary purpose is to aid in managing both screens, with the option to create app and folder shortcuts on the touchscreen (there’s an arrow on the far-left side of the screen you can tap to open it). Likewise, when you move a window around in the main display, a small pop up gives you the option to move or pin that window to the ScreenPad Plus, or force the window to go full screen across both screens.

For apps like mail or file explorer, full-screen mode is handy. But for games, well, it’s awkward and not very useful. Here’s how it looked when I tried to play Warzone using both screens.

See what I mean about feeling very… niche? It would have been awesome for this to work.

Purchasing Guide

The Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 that we tested can be found through Asus or on Amazon with an MSRP of $3,699. If you don’t care about 4K gaming, you can get a 300Hz 1080p main display panel with an RTX 2070 Super with Max-Q and an Intel Core i7-10875H for $2,999.99.

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Belgian game developer Abrakam announced a new roguelike deck-builder game titled Roguebook. Furthermore, it’s been designed with the help of Magic: The Gathering creator Richard Garfield.

Roguebook is a new roguelike deck-builder similar where players will progress through a dungeon and build up a deck of cards that will serve as the basis for the character’s strength and powers.

Players begin with two heroes and build a deck of powers around them. If both heroes die, players must start over from the beginning. As players traverse an overworld, they’ll fight more enemies, earn more cards based on their defeated foe, and eventually craft a powerful deck that suits their needs.

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Roguelikes are a new genre for Nacon, a French publisher behind titles like Werewolf: The Apocalypse Earthblood and Warhammer Chaosbane. In addition to Roguebook, Nacon announced a second roguelike called Rogue Lords developed by Cyanide and Leikir.

In addition to Roguebook, Nacon revealed the first look gameplay for Werewolf: The Apocalypse, and a cinematic trailer for Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong. Note, Swansong is a separate project from Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2.

For more from today’s Nacon Connect, check out IGN.

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Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Humble has a new promotion that lets you choose 9 PC games from Humble Choice each month for just $12 per month when you pay for a year in advance. Considering the normal price for this tier is $19.99 per month, that’s a pretty hefty savings. You get to keep and play the games forever, even after you drop the subscription. The only drawback is that the deal only works for new subscribers. The offer ends July 30.

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• Get the deal

Humble Choice subscriptions come in three tiers. The Lite tier costs $4.99 per month and gets you access to a collection of over 90 PC games called the Humble Trove, as well as 10% off Humble Store purchases. Next up is the Basic tier, which costs $14.99 a month and gets you your choice of three games every month, as well as the perks of the Lite tier.

But the Premium tier is what this deal covers. It lets you choose nine games every month that you get to keep and play forever. In addition, you get access to the Humble Trove, as well as 20% off Humble Store purchases.

In short, you get a heap of value each month with the Premium tier. And if you lock in a year’s subscription now, you’ll only pay $12 per month. That’s a great deal for nine games per month in addition to the 20% Humble Store discount.

If you’re curious about what kinds of games are available to choose from each month, you can see the selections for previous months here. In June 2020, for instance, you could choose from games like Grid, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, The Messenger, and more. May’s offerings included Jurassic World Evolution, XCOM 2 (and two of its DLC), and a bunch more.

So far they’ve only revealed two of the games you’ll get to choose from at the end of July: Age of Wonders: Planetfall Deluxe Edition and Void Bastards. The full selection will be revealed the first Friday in August. Basically, there’s a wide variety of titles available each month. Choosing nine games to play and keep forever for $12 per month is a pretty killer deal, IMO.

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Disclosure: Humble Bundle is owned by Ziff Davis, the parent company of IGN. Humble Bundle and IGN operate completely independently, and no special consideration is given to Humble Bundle announcements or promotions for coverage.

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Chris Reed is IGN’s shopping and commerce editor. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.

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Great deals today on several popular video games. For PS Plus members, the new free games are available starting today and the selection is stellar. Also, save on recently released titles like Final Fantasy VII Remake, Nioh 2, Super Mario Maker, The Outer Worlds, Code Vein, and much more.

App users: Don’t see the deals below? Click here.

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More Video Game Deals

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Eric Song is IGN’s deal curator and spends 25% of his pay on stuff he posts.

All 10 Season 1 episodes of Warrior Nun are now streaming on Netflix.

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Based on the ’90s comic series Warrior Nun Areala, by Ben Dunn, Netflix’s latest addition to the always bankable “you’re actually special” subset of fantasy/adventure, Warrior Nun, is a spirited and captivating ride thanks in large part to Portuguese star Alba Baptista.

As a remixed version of the comics, the series invents a new lead character, in Baptista’s rebellious orphan Ava Silva, and offers up new takes on characters like Shotgun Mary, Lilith, Sister Shannon Masters (the lead in the comics), and antagonist Julian Salvius (here Jillian Salvius). Overall, Warrior Nun, created by Simon Barry (Continuum), doesn’t actually offer up all that much new in the genre of monster-slaying (if you’re at all familiar with the various story beats of Buffy, Supernatural, Shadowhunters, etc) but what it does, it does very well.

Tropes get recycled quite a bit here, but solid performances, reverent writing, and the Spanish backdrop all lend themselves nicely to a series that’s decided to take its time with its characters, mythology, and stakes. It might not be the wisest pace considering Netflix’s more recent track record of canceling shows after three or four seasons, but story-wise, this is definitely a world you want to ease into if Warrior Nun is to be taken seriously.

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Whereas a super-powered nun named Shannon was the hero in the comics, Shannon serves as the gateway here, on the series, dying almost immediately after her regiment of soldier sisters narrowly escapes an ambush. Her abilities, stemming from an actual halo embedded in her back, are transferred to a new young woman. Enter Ava, already dead from mysterious circumstances. After the hasty transfer of powers, Ava not only finds herself alive (she didn’t really know she’d died – you’ll find out why) but also with the ability to walk again. Ava may now be on the precipice of chaos and danger but it’s still a huge step up from her previous existence as a depressed tetraplegic living in an abusive orphanage. So not only are Ava’s fantastical halo-given powers new to her, but the outside world itself is new to her as well.

This is specifically where Baptista shines. In her first English-speaking role, the actress adeptly handles the snark that comes with a contrarian underdog. Not only that, but she creates a character you want to follow as she constantly resists her new sacred calling. And that’s the biggest hurdle the season overcomes. Ava is so stubborn and so hesitant to join up with the warrior nuns — a sect called the Order of the Cruciform Sword (a group whose name might be an homage to the brotherhood in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) — that she totally has a separate story running for the first half of the season as she bums around with a squad of young, pretty mansion squatters led by Emilio Sakraya’s JC. There’s an unevenness here, in the season, since not only does this band of harmless grifters vanish from the narrative at a certain point, but so does Ava’s voice-over narration. Still, Baptista is able to carry all of this and present Ava as a defiant, but also relatable, newborn.

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So what’s at stake here? Is the world in peril? Does Ava need to get her ass in gear, start her training, and prevent an apocalypse? Well, none of it’s actually clear until the final two episodes. And even then, the story drops a cliffhanger on your lap without actually answering most of your questions. It’s not as bad as it sounds though. There are a few twists that land pretty well, though one might not fully hold up upon a rewatch. The main crux of the series is Ava having to decide if she wants to accept the mantle passed down to her while team outlier Mary (Toya Turner) digs into Sister Shannon’s death a bit more, discovering that someone on their team betrayed them, and rival teammate Lilith (Lorena Andrea) grows impatient and seeks the halo for herself.

Parallel to this, Thekla Reuten’s tech mogul Jillian Salvius is using an other-worldly metal called Divinium to open a portal to a world where death and disease don’t exist (Heaven?) while Joaquim de Almeida’s Cardinal Duretti exists to scheme in the shadows, possibly harboring an agenda that conflicts with the OCS. Again, it all culminates nicely, as the season’s story builds competently and features a fun climax in the catacombs under Vatican City. You’re just not going to get all your questions about the show’s mythology answered in time before the final credits roll. Hopefully, it’s satisfying enough to just find out that almost everything you’ve learned up until the finale is wrong, as the series attempts a giant “up is down, black is white” rug pull, but you’re going to need to see more to fill in the gaps. Fortunately, while not breaking any particular mold, Warrior Nun still leaves you wanting more.