Author: Trafficblast

Dirt Rally 2.0 is heading back to the series’ roots with the upcoming Colin McRae: Flat Out pack. The nostalgia-tinged DLC is due out on March 24, 2020 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, and will be free for all season pass owners.

Outside of the US, Codemasters’ long-running off-road series started back in 1998 as Colin McRae Rally, before eventually becoming Colin McRae: Dirt in 2007. Following the rally star’s untimely death in the same year, McRae’s name eventually stopped appearing in the title after the release of Dirt 3.

The Flat Out pack selects some of the highlights of McRae’s career by letting you relive 40 of his greatest moments in Dirt Rally 2.0’s Scenarios mode. The DLC also introduces his iconic Subaru Impreza Rally S4 and Subaru Legacy RS to the game, along with 12 new routes that undulate through Scotland’s Perth and Kinross.

In 2017 social media was peppered with images of tourists riding around Tokyo streets in go-karts and dressed up as various Mario characters, strongly resembling the likes of Mario Kart. With the service being unlicensed (and in some cases dangerous), Nintendo quickly stepped in and sued Mari Mobility (formerly Maricar) for their Street Kart service, initially winning in 2018. After an unsuccessful appeal and an attempt to clean up their act, the situation has become far worse.

After rebranding and swapping out all Nintendo references with various superhero ones, Mari Mobility hoped to reduce the damages owed to Nintendo, a sum of 10 million yen (around $92,000). The appeal has backfired, however, with Mari Mobility losing and ordered to pay five times the damages, now totalling 50 million yen ($458,000), according to the Japanese website Inside Games (via Kotaku).

Apart from getting rid of the Mario costumes and branding, Mari Mobility also covered up images on its website showing past inclusions, while also updating its official blurb to make it very clear that it is done using Nintendo’s brand. “We at Street Kart is providing our service as usual. Street Kart is fully complied [sic] through local governing laws in Japan. Street Kart is in no way a reflection of Nintendo, the game ‘Mario Kart’. (We do not provide rental of costumes of Mario Series.),” the website now reads.

This was obviously not enough for the court, and Nintendo has been rigorous in defending its IP. In a statement following the ruling, Nintendo stressed that it will continue defending violations of its intellectual property that damages the brands it has built up over numerous years.

The beginning of 2020 was meant to have so many big launches, especially in the run up to March and April. But with Cyberpunk 2077, Final Fantasy VII Remake and more being pushed back, there’s a definite void left in their wake. PS Plus for February is here to take that sting away, with a total of three PlayStation 4 games available through the subscription: BioShock The Collection, The Sims 4, and Firewall Zero Hour.

BioShock: The Collection includes the original BioShock, its direct sequel BioShock 2, and BioShock Infinite in their remastered forms, along with all their DLC. Although a new BioShock is still a long way off, each of these is great in its own right, and well worth a playthrough.

The Sims 4 is the latest entry in EA’s long-running simulation franchise. In our original 6/10 review though, The Sims 4 was criticized for its cramped structure and removal of several series features, but has since endured with numerous expansions and content packs.

Firewall Zero Hour is exclusively for PSVR, where you and three other players can tackle tactically demanding shooter situations via online multiplayer. It supports the PSVR Aim controller for increased precision, but can be played with standard Move controllers too.

You have until February 4–which is when February’s games arrive–to pick up January’s PS Plus titles on PSN, namely Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and Goat Simulator. As always PS Plus titles are only playable with an active PS Plus subscription.

PS Plus Free Games for February 2020

Available February 4 – March 2

• BioShock The Collection
• The Sims 4
• Firewall Zero Hour

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has now released its final DLC fighter as part of Fighters Pass, Byleth from Fire Emblem: Three Houses. But six more fighters are on the way with a second Fighters Pass, and it’s now available to purchase so you can be prepared as they all trickle in.

The “Fighters Pass Vol. 2” costs $30, an increase from the first Fighters Pass which was $25. But that pass included five fighters, while the second one includes six, so it still represents an equivalent savings. Individual fighters have been priced at $6 apiece. Purchasing the Fighters Pass also grants you a new Mii costume based on the Ancient Soldier gear from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and you can start using it immediately.

Like the first one, we don’t know the identities of the six fighters that will be added yet. Each Challenger Pack is listed individually with an estimated release date of 12/31/2021, but can’t be purchased yet. When the season pass was announced, game director Masahiro Sakurai said all the fighters will be released by the end of 2021. We expect it to follow a similar model to the first season pass, with characters being revealed and then released one at a time.

Sakurai said during the presentation that he understands that players may have reservations about buying into a DLC pass without knowing the exact contents, and he would be grateful if fans understand why the characters aren’t revealed just yet.

This all comes alongside the big 7.0 update, which aside from Byleth comes with a load of balance changes. You can grab a free Spirit Board Challenge Pack for even more to do in Smash. And if Cuphead’s guest appearance as a Mii costume has put you in the mood to play its own game, it’s discounted on Switch right now.

Priyanka Chopra Jonas is reportedly in final negotiations to join the cast of The Matrix 4.

Variety reports Chopra Jonas is currently closing in on a deal to join the star-studded ensemble of the fourth film in The Matrix franchise, though details about her prospective character are being kept under wraps.

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Over the years, Chopra Jonas has gained recognition for portraying a range of characters in over 60 films. In her US TV debut, she starred as the lead on ABC drama Quantico, playing FBI field agent Alex Parrish, for which she received a People’s Choice Award. Since then, she has appeared in supporting roles in Hollywood comedies, such as Baywatch and Isn’t It Romantic. Most of her current projects are in pre-production, including Netflix’s superhero film We Can Be Heroes, directed by Robert Rodriguez.

If Chopra Jonas signs on for the next instalment of the upcoming sci-fi saga, she would be joining Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, who are reprising their respective roles as Neo and Trinity, as well as newcomers How I Met Your Mother actor Neil Patrick Harris and Aquaman star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Presently, no word has been given on whether Laurence Fishburne will be returning as Morpheus, however, Warner Bros. is reportedly looking for two actors to portray younger versions of his character and Neo.

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Officially announced in August 2019, The Matrix 4 has now been given a release date of May 21, 2021, which is the same day as John Wick 4 (another Keanu Reeves-fronted film).

For more on the rumours surrounding Matrix 4, check out our history of stories surrounding the upcoming sequel.

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Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Buying a full-price video game doesn’t always guarantee you’ll get everything it has to offer without spending more money. Cosmetics and pay-to-win items are often locked behind microtransactions, asking players to part with more cash if they want to gain a leg up on the competition or simply look different. Fortunately, Doom Eternal isn’t involved in such hellish practices.

That’s according to the game’s creative director, Hugo Martin. The upcoming FPS will include unlockable cosmetics, but you won’t have to pay for them–you’ll simply have to earn them. “Eternal is a $60 game, not a free-to-play game or a mobile game–we are giving you a complete experience with no store just like you’d expect,” Martin said in reply to a fan question on Facebook.

The cosmetics in Doom Eternal will have no impact on how the game plays; they exist just to look cool. “Unlocking skins with XP is part of the experience if you care about that stuff, or you can completely ignore it and it and it will have no impact on your experience at all, and it’s all free,” Martin continued. “Nothing you can unlock in Eternal with XP has anything to do with player abilities or content that would impact your game in any way.”

Doom Eternal never felt like the sort of game to include microtransactions, especially after its predecessor also eschewed the practice, but it’s still welcome news when a big triple-A game doesn’t ask you to part ways with even more cash. This is especially true when it comes to the game’s competitive multiplayer, since you won’t find yourself at a disadvantage there if you elect not to purchase additional weapons, skills, and the like.

Doom Eternal is set to launch on March 20, 2020 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, with the Nintendo Switch version due out later this year.

The Last of Us Part 2 promises to be one of the biggest games of the year. It catches up with Ellie and Joel several years after the events of the first game and sets them off on another dangerous adventure. If you’d like a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the PS4 exclusive, you can preorder The Art of The Last of Us Part 2 in hardcover, Kindle, or a new deluxe edition that just went up on Amazon.

As a side note, video game art books tend to get occasional discounts on Amazon prior to release. If you preorder now, you’ll be guaranteed to lock in the lowest price, even if it goes back up before it comes out.

Preorder The Art of The Last of Us Part 2 Deluxe Edition

• Get it at Amazon – $89.99

The Art of The Last of Us Part 2 is a hardcover 200-page book that promises to offer “extensive insights” into the making of the game. Compared to the regular version, the deluxe edition offers the following extras:

• Gallery-Quality Lithograph
• Slipcase
• Exclusive Cover

The book is also available in non-deluxe hardcover and Kindle editions. It’s the exact same book as the deluxe edition, but without the exclusive cover, slipcase, and lithograph.

• Hardcover Edition – $35.99 (save $4)
• Kindle Edition – $19.99

Preorder The Last of Us Part 2 for PS4

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The game The Last of Us Part 2 is also up for preorder in a handful of editions, some of which are sold out everywhere or nearly everywhere.

• Standard edition – $59.99 at Amazon
• Special edition – $79.99 at Best Buy
• Collector’s edition – $169.99 at GameStop

For details about what comes in each edition, check out our The Last of Us Part 2 preorder guide.

More Video Game Books

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• The World of Cyberpunk 2077 – $35.99 (save $4)
• The World of Cyberpunk 2077 Deluxe Edition – $86.14 (save $14)
• The Skyrim Library – $59.99 (save $45)
• The Art of Death Stranding – $33.99 (save $6)
• The Art of Doom Eternal – $32.38 (save $7)
• The Art of Gears 5 – $25.49 (save $14)
• The Art of God of War – $22.52 (save $17)

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

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I, for one, am getting really excited for the Xbox Series X, but we have so little info as of yet, there’s no reason you can’t get yourself set up with a new Xbox One in the meantime. With Xbox Series X backwards-compatiblity, anything you buy to play on your Xbox One now will also work on your Xbox Series X later. The same goes for controllers, so if you pick yourself up an Elite Series 2 controller deal, you can use it with your next Xbox.

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Xbox One All-Access Bundles

One of the best ways to save on Xbox One is with the Xbox All-Access program. Depending on your qualifications, you could set yourself up with a brand new Xbox One X, Xbox Live Gold and Game Pass Ultimate all for $30.99 a month. Unfortunately, the option to upgrade to the Xbox Series X after 12 months expired on December 31, and Microsoft hasn’t offered any new news on its upgrade plans. Still, even without the 12-month upgrade turnaround, this remains an amazing Xbox One deal.

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• Xbox One S All-Digital All-Access – Starting at $19.99
• Xbox One S 1TB Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Bundle All-Access – Starting at $22.99
• Xbox One S 1TB NBA 2K20 Bundle All-Access – Starting at $22.99
• Xbox One S 1TB Gears 5 Bundle All-Access – Starting at $22.99
• Xbox One X 1TB Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Bundle All-Access – Starting at $30.99
• Xbox One X 1TB NBA 2K20 Bundle All-Access – Starting at $30.99
• Xbox One X 1TB Gears 5 Bundle All-Access – Starting at $30.99
• Xbox One X 1TB Gears 5 Limited Edition Bundle All-Access – Starting at $30.99