Author: Trafficblast

Today only, anyone in the US with a Twitch Prime membership can get a copy of Grand Theft Auto V on PS4 or Xbox One effectively for free. You’ll have to pay $15 up front, but you’ll receive a $15 credit in your Amazon account within a week after purchase. At the time of this writing, the promotion works on the physical PS4 version and both the digital and physical versions for Xbox One. You’ll want to hurry, because the offer goes away at tonight at 11:59 PM PT (2:59 AM ET December 20).

As you might expect, there are a number of caveats. First off, you have to be an Amazon Prime member. Next, you have to have linked your Prime membership with your Twitch account to become a Twitch Prime member (here’s how to do that). The offer also only applies to copies of the game sold by Amazon.com or Amazon Digital Services LLC, meaning it won’t work with third-party sellers. The $15 promotional credit expires on January 31, 2019, so you’ll want to spend it before then. Read the full set of terms and conditions for more information.

PS4

Xbox One

Even with all that in mind, this is still a fantastic deal for anyone who doesn’t have GTA V on PS4 or Xbox One. The single-player campaign is lengthy, and Rockstar has been updating the included GTA Online mode each week for years.

In GameSpot’s Grand Theft Auto V review, Mark Walton wrote, “Aside from a few mild frame rate issues that sometimes take the edge off its more dramatic moments, this is the definitive version of GTA V, and the bar by which all other open-world games, or indeed any game that aims for a cinematic feel, should be judged. It is beautiful, and thought-provoking, and thrilling throughout. Even if you’ve played through GTA V once already, it’s worth going back just to be reminded of what an outstanding achievement it is.”

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Fortnite is one of the most popular games on the planet, and the PS4 is currently the best-selling console of this generation. That means there are probably a lot of PS4 owners who enjoy playing Fortnite. If you fall into that category and you happen to be a PlayStation Plus member, here’s some good news. You can grab the Fortnite: Battle Royale PlayStation Plus Celebration Pack for free.

The Celebration Pack is a bundle of three in-game items: Prodigy outfit, Tabulator back bling, and a 2D Pizza emoticon. Like all Fortnite gear, these items are purely cosmetic and don’t affect gameplay. And while you normally have to spend V-Bucks or complete challenges to get in-game items like these, this pack is available for free just for being a PS Plus member.

The Prodigy outfit consists of glasses, a red handkerchief worn around the neck, and a blue sweater vest adorned with math symbols. The Tabulator back bling is a giant calculator that displays the number of eliminations you’ve gotten during the current match, and the 2D Pizza emoticon is a slice of cheesy pepperoni pizza.

This isn’t the first free pack of Fortnite gear for PS Plus members. Previous packs have vanished from the PlayStation Store after a few weeks, so it’s safe to assume this one will do the same. Before it does, be sure to add it to your account.

Hearthstone is making some big balance changes much sooner into a new expansion than usual. The patch, which is set to release December 19, is entirely breaking two popular combos, severely limiting another, and making some more fundamental changes to the Druid toolbox.

The two decks that are being undone entirely are Shudderwock Shaman and Kingsbane Rogue, with nerfs to Saronite Chain Gang and Leeching Poison, respectively. Saronite Chain Gang’s card text will change slightly to impact the way it copies itself. That copying mechanic was used in Shudderwock Shaman to create infinite copies of the Legendary card Shudderwock, so this change essentially cuts off that strategy. Leeching Poison is changing its effect to only give your weapon Lifesteal for a single turn, so that you can’t use a powered up Kingsbane forever to stay alive. Its cost is also changing from 2 Mana to 1.

The Paladin card Level Up will be changing to 6 Mana rather than 5. This severely hobbles but doesn’t quite break the “Odd Paladin” deck, since it gets an upgraded hero power by limiting it to odd-costed cards. Since Level Up will no longer be allowable in Odd Paladin decks, players will have to choose between flooding the field with recruits or upgrading them, rather than both.

Finally, Druid is getting a couple of changes to some of its classic cards. Wild Growth and Nourish are both going up by one Mana apiece, to 3 and 6 Mana respectively. Blizzard notes that these cards have been so dominant in Druid deck-building that the class can start to feel stale and repetitive, and “stifle creative deckbuilding decisions.”

The latest expansion for Hearthstone, Rastakhan’s Rumble, launched in early December. Usually Blizzard allows more time to pass with a new expansion before rolling out balance changes, but the studio notes that it’s “opted to make these changes earlier in the expansion cycle than we normally consider.” It invites feedback from players regarding the timing of the update, along with the actual changes themselves. You can read more details at the Hearthstone Blog.

Disney’s catalogue of classic fairytale properties is proving to be highly lucrative business for the studio, as the company continues to give them the live-action remake treatment. A new version Aladdin is set to hit theaters in May, and now the first images have been released.

The pictures come via Entertainment Weekly. They show the three main stars–Mena Massoud (Jack Ryan), as Aladdin, Naomi Scott (Power Rangers) as Jasmine, and Will Smith, who plays the Genie. And in case you’re you’re thinking that Smith looks a bit ordinary as this legendary magical character, EW have also confirmed that he will have a “floating lamp form,” but that vfx isn’t finished yet. Check the images out below:

Aladdin also stars Marwan Kenzari (The Mummy) as Jafar, Navid Negahban (American Sniper) as The Sultan, Billy Magnussen (Game Night, The Big Short) as Prince Anders. It’s directed by Guy Richie (Sherlock Holmes, Snatch) and is set to be released on May 24, 2019.

In an interview with EW, Smith talked about taking on the role of the Genie, which was famously played by Robin Williams in the classic 1992 animated movie. “Whenever you’re doing things that are iconic, it’s always terrifying,” he said. “The question is always: Where was there meat left on the bone? Robin didn’t leave a lot of meat on the bone with the character.

“[But] I started to feel confident that I could deliver something that was an homage to Robin Williams but was musically different. Just the flavor of the character would be different enough and unique enough that it would be in a different lane, versus trying to compete.”

Aladdin is just one of several classic fairy tale remakes that Disney has on the way. In March, Tim Burton’s reimagining of Dumbo hits theaters, while a new version of The Lion King arrives in July. Beyond that, the remake of Mulan is scheduled for 2020, plus movies based on Cruella De Ville (101 Dalmations) and Tinker Bell (Peter Pan) are reportedly also in development.

Media Molecule has been working on Dreams for a little while now, and it’s finally ready to show more of the game off to the general public. The developer will hold a beta for the PS4 title in January, with sign ups going live December 19.

The beta itself begins “the week of January 8,” Media Molecule explains in a blog post, but invites will be sent out in waves. If you’re on the developer’s mailing list, you can register your interest now; others must wait until January 4 to sign up for the beta. Note that signing up does not guarantee you access: “Though we cannot guarantee space for everyone, we will try our best,” Media Molecule states. The trial will remain open through January 21.

Media Molecule says the purpose of this test period is to gather player feedback on Dreams’ tutorials and creative tools, among other things. For this reason, the game’s Story Mode is not included in the beta. To maintain the game’s surprises until its final launch date, beta participants will be required to fill out an NDA and therefore won’t be able to share screenshots, impressions, or videos publicly. However, the developer says its plan is for your creations to carry over to the final game.

We don’t yet know Dreams’ PS4 release date–the closest we have to a release window is simply “2019.” The game has a similar focus on player creation as Media Molecule’s best-known franchise, LittleBigPlanet–you can even make a battle royale-style game inside Dreams.

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