Author: Trafficblast

With the end of Season 23 fast approaching, South Park turned its attention to one of its more minor characters this week. Scott Malkinson made it his goal to impress the new girl at school. Unfortunately, that required signing up for the latest streaming service, and that’s a no-go in the Malkinson household.

We’ll have our review of “Basic Cable” up soon. Until then, let us know what you thought of the new episode in the comments below.

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Apex Legends‘ latest update, which increases the level cap, hit the PC version of the game a bit before consoles. Now, the patch is available to everyone, and PS4 and Xbox One Apex Legends players can continue their journey to level 500. But that’s not the only reason to jump into Apex Legends right now–a great free skin has also been released.

The new skin is a tie-in for Respawn’s other big game of 2019, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. It lets you dress up Apex Legends’ robot, Pathfinder, like BD-1, Cal Kestis’s companion from the new Star Wars game. To don the white and red color scheme, players won’t have to part with any money–all you need to do is log into Apex Legends between now and January 14, 2020. Just jump in and you’ll earn this free skin.

Here’s a close-up look at the new skin, alongside the robot that inspired it.

Apex Legends is not the only battle royale to get a Star Wars tie-in recently: Fortnite has already offered up Stormtrooper costumes, although they’re no longer available.

After being delayed for Xbox One and PS4, Apex Legends Update 3.2 is now live across all platforms. The update is huge–both in terms of data size and the quality-of-life changes it implements.

The major component of the update is the changes to in-game progression. For the first time since launch, the in-game level cap is being increased, going from 100 to 500. The necessary XP to reach level 100 has also been reduced. While leveling, there are more opportunities to earn Apex Packs. The full breakdown is below–all rewards are retroactive, so you’ll automatically earn 14 Apex Packs if you’re already level 100. You will also now earn a new gun charm every 100 player levels.

Apex Legends New Progression System

• Level 2 – 20: One pack every level
• Level 22 – 300: One pack every two levels
• Level 305 – 500: One pack every five levels

The more notable adjustments are in all the quality-of-life changes. The update adds a button prompt for you to cancel a finisher halfway through the animation–allowing you to immediately return to the fight if you’re ambushed. The legendary armor spawn rate has also been reduced, so it’s less likely you’ll have to worry about running into squads completely outfitted in Gold body shields near the end of a match.

There have also been game-changing adjustments made to knockdown shields and Wattson’s Ultimate ability, Interception Pylon. Common and rare knockdown shields are significantly stronger now. Wattson’s new Interception Pylon is now more effective at locking down a zone and allowing her squad to launch an offensive against enemy teams–as it now only intercepts grenades and explosives being thrown in, not out.

Additionally, there’s now an option to toggle whether you want the option to automatically exit out of looting death boxes when an enemy team shoots at you. Final circle locations have also been changed to account for setting up even playing fields at the end of a match, as well as a greater variety of locales for final circle confrontations. The overall color of helmets and armor have also been adjusted to be easier to discern for players with colorblindness.

Update 3.2 also implements dozens of bug fixes, which are listed below. You can also find them–as well as additional detail for all the aforementioned changes–in the update’s full patch notes.

Apex Legends Update 3.2 Bug Fixes

• Fixed bug where other players would appear to be in the wrong Rank (e.g. they are actually Apex Predator but appear Bronze IV)
• Bunch of bug fixes to World’s Edge related to collision, geometry, supply bins spawning in bad areas, and cases where loot couldn’t be picked up in certain areas near Geyser.
• Fixed bug where sometimes the Respawn Dropship would be silent when arriving.
• Fixed bug where Bangalore would reference the Skullpiecer hop-up when pinging a Wingman.
• Fixed issue where player banner would appear off-center in the match summary/squad eliminated screens.
• Fixed a visual bug where the progress bars for Shield Cells and Phoenix Kits appeared desaturated and hard to read.
• Fixed bug where players were able to instantly revive in certain locations.
• Fixed bug for rare cases where a player was unable to revive a teammate while outside the Ring.
• Fixed bug where the visual FX for the knockdown shield would remain visible after being destroyed by an enemy.
• Fixed bug where equipping the EVA-8 Auto Shotgun Double Tap hop-up would remove the rate of fire increase from equipped shotgun bolt.
• Fixed bug where some Legends would relay incorrect “ability not ready” sound FX when trying to activate an ability that was still on cooldown.
• Fixed a visual bug where sometimes when a Legend starts using a Shield Cell it causes their weapon to appear to be briefly floating past their arm.
• Fixed bug where sometimes the Train’s lead car would detach from the rest of the Train after a player stops and then starts it back up.
• Fixed bug for cases where players could get crushed by the Train while standing near the back of the front car.
• Fixed bug where Legend’s faces would appear distorted in third person during matches and while browsing inventory.
• Fixed issues with corrupted graphics and frame drops that we found were related to detonating ordnance in certain locations causing object to trigger bad pixels.
• Fixed bug for cases where flying Crypto’s Drone near the Train can cause Crypto to move around without player input.
• Fixed a bug where Crypto’s tactical hud looked like it was stuck recharging until you used it.
• Fixed bug for cases where a deathbox would not come to rest on stairs and players were unable to retrieve the player’s Banner Card.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate turns a year old on December 7, and to celebrate Nintendo is tripling the rewards handed out at the end of Spirit Board fights for anyone who plays the game over the weekend. The new Smash Bros. event triples EXP and SP rewards. This will help you to level up your spirits much faster.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has doubled or tripled the rewards on the Spirit Board a few times, but this is the first time it’s had a clear celebratory purpose–and because of that, everyone gets a present too. You’ll be given a Damage 50% item after your fights, which will come in handy–it forces your opponent to start the fight with 50% damage. These rewards will be active from December 6 through December 8, after which time the rates will return to normal.

Unfortunately, this also means that the Resident Evil Spirit Board event has ended; hopefully we’ll see more guest characters appearing on the board in the near future.

While you’re in-game, if it’s been a while and you’re a Nintendo Switch Online subscriber you can nab a bonus. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s fourth DLC character, Terry Bogard, recently joined the fight, but there are more fighters in the works beyond him.

NHL 20 is getting a big new update this week that introduces a significant change surrounding player physics. Specifically, the “pivot” system is being updated in what could be a big way.

In the game as it stands today, players can pivot while controlling the puck as a means to slip around defenders, confuse them, and control the puck. However, players have discovered that the pivoting system can be abused to take it to a level that compromises the integrity of the game.

Those with advanced pivoting skills can, in essence, game the system to give themselves an advantage beyond what should be possible in a simulation game. In a blog post, EA acknowledged that the steps its taking to address the matter are “a fine line” because some of the NHL’s best players can in fact perform advanced-level pivots while retaining control of the puck.

With that in mind, the December 5 update to NHL 20 will slow down the skating animation when players are using a pivot move. You can see examples of the the pivot-spamming and changes in action in the videos posted on EA’s website and below.

NHL 20 Pivot-Spamming

NHL 20 Pivot Speed Changes

If these changes aren’t enough, EA said it might consider creating scenarios where players lose the puck completely while performing a pivot at high speeds. This makes sense practically, as any hockey player will tell you it is very difficult to perform advanced moves at high speeds.

NHL 20 Pivot Puck Loss

“We believe these are agreed upon, community friendly changes that will benefit gameplay without shaking things up too drastically,” EA said.

You can see the full December 5 patch notes below.

In other news, EA Sports has teased Snoop Dogg as a celebrity commentator for NHL 20. Whether or not he’s added in the December 5 patch is unknown, however.

NHL 20 December 5 Patch Notes

General

• Restricted directional toe drags to when a skater is moving forwards
• Improved player switching cases when a teammate has been injured
• Fixed a rare issue where tall players were unable to receive passes consistently (This would have been seen the most on D to D passes to stationary players pivoting to face the net)
• Fixed physics updates with goaltenders.

AI

• Improved ability for Weakside defender to stay with their check on the rush

Skating

• If players continually pivot, their skating will be impacted more realistically
• Puck carriers pivot speeds will be impacted by trying to pivot at high speeds to simulate what they would need to do to keep control of the puck

Presentation

• Added additional celebrations
• Various overlay fixes
• Fix for the Zone camera not working as intended
• Various environment camera clipping fixes

Tournaments

• Added 2019 Spengler Cup tournament

HUT

General

• HUT Team Abbreviation no longer displays in Pause Menu prior to puck drop

HUT Rivals

• Implemented a matchmaking cap for very high and very low Skill Ratings to improve the likelihood of these players finding games
• Fixed multiple display issues in the Ranks and Division screens
• Fixed an issue where Coin Items could not be redeemed if a player had 2,000 HUT Champions Points

Squad Battles

• Fixed an issue where expired Loan items displayed an incorrect contract length when viewing Opponent Squad

World of CHEL

Content

• Customize Club – The 2019-20 Canucks logo has been added, and the 2018-19 Canucks Logo has been moved to the vintage section
• New content added to World of CHEL which is to be revealed through the Chel Challenge card. Tune in regularly to see what exciting new stuff you can earn

Fixes

• Fixed an MTU exploit in online modes
• Fixed an issue with the Instant Replay timeline not functioning prior to puck drop
• Fixed an issue where EASHL overlays show the player position as C

Art

The following uniforms have been added to NHL 20

AHL

• Belleville Senators Away and Alternate
• Hartford Wolfpack Home, Away and Alternate
• Iowa Wild Alternate
• San Antonio Rampage Home and Away
• Stockton Heat Alternate

In The Valley of Gods, the follow-up to Firewatch from the team at Campo Santo, is on hold indefinitely while the team involved works on different games at Valve, including the upcoming VR title Half-Life: Alyx. It’s unclear whether or not work on the title will ever resume, and if it does, whether it will be the same game that was originally announced in late 2018. Now, one of the game’s contract writers–who has not been moved to another project within Valve–has opened up about how deeply he cared about the work he was doing on the game, giving some insight into what it might (or might have) looked like.

Duncan Fyfe, who wrote for Neo Cab and was working as a contractor for In the Valley of Gods after having worked previously with Campo Santo, said that he’s unlikely to work on the game again now, and is currently seeking new work. In a Twitter thread, he discussed the work he did for the game, and hinted at some of the themes and concepts the game was going to work with.

Over a series of tweets, Fyfe explains how he started working for Campo Santo six years ago, writing articles for their website, calling it “the best and most empowering job I’ve ever had.” He talks about getting to work on the follow-up, and the research that went into his writing for the game. “I wanted to make myself invaluable to this game and to an amazing team by becoming a person who knew what it meant to tell a mystery adventure story in 1920s in Egypt,” he says. He spent time poring over “19th century maps and guidebooks, cartouche diagrams and tomb plans, theses and excavation reports, figuring out creative solutions to narrative problems.”

There are plenty of interesting anecdotes about the lengths he went to for his preparation throughout the thread, including the one below.

In his thread, Fyfe says that “the white western world of the 19th and 20th centuries twisted race science to assert that the Egyptians who actually created all that good stuff were themselves white,” and that the game, which is “about two black women in a world of white Egyptologists,” would have dealt with this directly.

Towards the end of his thread, Fyfe directly discusses what he believes the game was “about”:

The full thread is worth a read to see the amount of work that was going into writing the game, and the passion for the project. One tweet from Fyfe simply reads “I loved working on this game so f***ing much.”

The fate of In the Valley of Gods remains uncertain. The next game from Valve, Half-Life: Alyx, releases for PC VR devices in March 2020.

From clothes and accessories to tech and game consoles, entertainment to comfort and relaxation, these are the best gifts for mom in 2019.