Author: Trafficblast

Terminator: Dark Fate is, once again, an attempt to reignite the time-travelling-robot series. Like Terminator Genisys before it, and The Sarah Connor Chronicles TV show before that, Dark Fate seeks to run closer to the tones and themes of the original two Terminator movies in order to find success. It does exactly that, too; it is the best Terminator film since Judgment Day without even breaking a sweat. However, it once again demonstrates something that’s fused itself the series since 1991: a refusal – or perhaps even inability – to escape Terminator 2’s formula.

Terminator 2 flipped the original film’s formula on its head by turning Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 killing machine into a bulletproof protector. No longer hunting Sarah Connor, he was programmed to protect her son John, who will go on to become the future leader of the human resistance. Hunting John is the T-1000, a hyper-advanced melty man sent back to 1991 by the AI Skynet. This pairing – the good robot vs the bad robot – is thrilling in Terminator 2, but has become increasingly tiresome after being used as the central conceit of every film in the series since.

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Starbreeze will resume work on Payday 2, with some changes, in an effort to get the company back on track financially. A message from CEO Mikael Nermark posted to the Steam Community frankly outlined the company’s current struggles and how it’s aiming to make changes to its roadmap ahead.

To start, Nermark explains the background of Starbreeze going into reconstruction, a process similar to US Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It has remained afloat despite being very short on funds, but now the company is making changes to assure it can keep going. And part of that includes going back to developing content for its successful game, Payday 2. But in the process, Nermark also recognizes openly that the studio is “breaking a promise,” which he says they do not take lightly.

The Payday 2: Ultimate Edition was proposed as a way to get forever-free DLC, and that commitment is being broken. Nermark says, “We want to move forward and make more of Payday 2, and to do so we need your support to continue producing content.”

The Ultimate Edition is being replaced by a new Payday 2: Legacy Collection. The studio is also adding back an a la carte option for individual DLC. More Payday 2 content is coming as well, said to be coming soon.

Starbreeze has been struggling since late last year, when it filed for reconstruction amid low sales of its Walking Dead game. Shortly after, its office was raided as part of an insider trading investigation. Nermark was named acting CEO in December 2018.≈

Fallout 76 players are reporting a variety of problems that have been introduced following the latest patch, including significant issues that afflict Fallout 1st subscriber players.

A bug roundup thread on Reddit explains that players believe that “newly created” worlds within Fallout 76 are not new, but re-purposed server instances. While yet to be confirmed by Bethesda, players have come to this conclusion due to these servers containing dead NPCs and junk that has already been looted.

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Earlier this year, Capcom announced that Monster Hunter World: Iceborne would be coming to PC in January, five months after it was initially released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. That timeframe has now been narrowed down to a specific date: January 9, 2020.

A new trailer showcases what PC players can expect from the Nergigante-sized expansion to the critically-acclaimed Monster Hunter World. The PC version will include high-resolution texture pack support, 4K and an uncapped framerate, support for ultra-wide screens, DirectX 12 support, and improved mouse and keyboard controls. Those who pre-order the game on Steam will also receive a Yukomo layered armor set, while the deluxe digital edition includes gestures, sticker sets, a Silver Knight layered armor set, and more.

The trailer does an excellent job showing off all the visual enhancements available on PC. The extra time was clearly put to good use. Back in September, Ginny Woo praised the expansion in GameSpot’s Monster Hunter World: Iceborne review, saying “There’s no more fussing about with new systems or worrying about ruffling the feathers of hardcore fans with a direction change in the series; those teething problems have already come and gone. Iceborne is a confident step into the future of the franchise, and it’s hard not to think about what might come next.”

You can preorder Iceborne on Steam now ahead of its release on January 9.

HyperX keeps on showing its strength in the PC gaming peripheral market, with the HyperX Alloy Origins gaming keyboard as the latest example (See it on Amazon). It sports all the RGB flair and mechanical switches you expect from a gaming keyboard, at a modest $109 price. And it introduces HyperX’s custom key switches to boot. At this price, it competes readily with the best budget gaming keyboards around, even if it doesn’t have quite the aggressive budget proposition of something like the $49 G.Skill KM360 or $69 Cooler Master CK530. Here’s what you need to know and what I experienced using the HyperX Alloy Origins.

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The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors. GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.

Cuphead is the perfect candidate for an art book. The captivating visuals and 1930s-style cartoon animation make it a marvel to watch in motion. Luckily, StudioMDHR agreed, and soon you can own an official Cuphead art book. The newly announced limited-edition of The Art of Cuphead is currently discounted to $63.84 at Amazon (listed at $100).

See at Amazon

The limited-edition comes with a beautiful cloth slipcase and portfolio with acetate sheets inside. The transparent sheets walk you through the start screen animation. A standard edition of The Art of Cuphead is also available to pre-order. It’s currently $28 at Amazon, which is $12 off the list price.

StudioMDHR partnered with Dark Horse Books to give fans a behind the scenes look at the process that went into creating Cuphead’s gorgeous animation. The 264-page hardcover promises to show early designs for both characters and levels, as well as frame-by-frame animation examples. Co-directors Chad and Jared Moldenhauer discuss the design process throughout, too. And there’s even new art from the upcoming DLC The Delicious Last Course.

Heads up: It’s entirely likely that prices for both editions will rise as we get closer to the March 17 release date. The standard edition has been available to pre-order for several months. I pre-ordered the standard edition when it was $20, so it’s worthwhile to get your order in as early as possible.

Ubisoft is suing cheat provider MizuSoft, claiming that the company has sold “hundreds of thousands of dollars” worth of cheats for its tactical online shooter Rainbow Six Siege, forcing the developer to spend “enormous sums of money” attempting to remediate the damage.

As reported by Polygon, the lawsuit, which was filed on October 23 in California, alleges that MizuSoft operators are selling and servicing cheating programs that expand a player’s field of vision, increase weapon damage, and reveal hidden enemies, among other game-ruining exploits. Ubisoft’s legal proceedings are aimed at the company and its owner, a minor referred to only as J.V.L. in the lawsuit.

MizuSoft calls itself “a leading cheat provider focused on providing powerful but user-friendly software,” with its website stating that it has a “clean detection record” and is “deadset on keeping cheat undetected” as a way to prevent player’s accounts from being banned. The “Budget Edition Rainbow Six Siege Cheat” is sold on the website as a subscription for around $13 per day or $77 per month. Ubisoft claims the company has violated copyright and encourages players to breach its terms of use and code of conduct.

Ubisoft has been dealing with a slew of cheaters ever since Rainbow Six Siege launched back in 2015. In 2016, it updated the game’s code of conduct, permanently banning first offenders found cheating or hacking. It later added new anti-cheating tech and saw it ban 3,800 cheaters on PC within the first week of being implemented. Ubisoft says MizuSoft’s cheating software has been downloaded and used by players “thousands of times,” earning the website thousands of dollars each month. The lawsuit alleges that this money has been funnelled through a payment processor linked to a web design firm called Simply San Webdesign, which is supposedly owned and operated by J.V.L.’s mother.

Ten other defendants are listed on the lawsuit, but Ubisoft only knows who the website owner is so the majority are being sued under their Discord names. Ubisoft also notes that J.V.L. “bragged to the media that his Cheating Software ruins R6S for other players,” and the developer is asking the court for maximum damages equating to $25,000 per violation. At the time of writing, MizuSoft’s website is no longer operational, simply displaying a message stating that it “will be ceasing operations as of October 24, 2019.

We love the standard Xbox controller, but there are a lot of excellent alternatives.