Author: Trafficblast

The Xbox One October update is rolling out today, offering a few new bells and whistles for the Microsoft console. The features in this update allow you to use more voice interactions, more easily watch HDR movies with streaming services, and personalize your Avatar.

The Xbox Skill feature lets you interact with your Xbox using Alexa or Cortana devices, with a greater degree of precision than the previous Kinect voice commands. As an example, Microsoft says you can tell Alexa to “launch Forza Horizon 4” and in response the Xbox One will start up, sign you in, and launch the game, all without additional commands needed. Other commands include starting Mixer broadcasts, capturing screenshots, and adjusting the volume. You’ll need to download the Xbox Skill in the respective stores to get started.

To promote the new functionality, Amazon will be offering a bundle that includes an Amazon Echo Dot with new Xbox One S or Xbox One X purchases. That deal is coming soon, but supplies will be limited.

The newly revised Avatars are available for all users today as well. These have a focus on inclusiveness, with a greater range of body types, more accessories, and the ability to dress in any kind of clothing you’d like. You’ll see the new Avatars on your own profile, in the activity feed and Gamerscore leaderboard, and more. You can use a Photobooth to take a picture of your Avatar to use as your profile image. Plus, if you want to stick with your original Avatar, that option is available too.

The update also adds Dolby Vision HDR streaming across supported televisions. For now it supports Netflix only, but Dolby Vision will expand to more apps in the coming months. You can enable it through the Settings menu. Finally the Narrator has added Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Swedish, Dutch, and Australian English.

Scarlett Johansson appears to be making a healthy amount for her upcoming solo Black Widow film. The star is reportedly set to earn $15 million, which would be equal the payouts for Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth in both Avengers: Infinity War and their own starring roles movies, Captain America: Civil War and Thor: Ragnarok.

The Hollywood Reporter reports that most actors in the Marvel cinematic universe have made much less for their initial standalone movies. Robert Downey Jr. made just $500,000 for the first Iron Man, while Chadwick Boseman is said to have pulled down $2 million for the first Black Panther. Brie Larson is making $5 million for the upcoming Captain Marvel, with a reported seven-picture deal (which Larson disputes). Then again, this won’t be Johansson’s first time around as Black Widow, as the character has been a mainstay in Marvel’s team-up films for years.

The news comes as Hollywood’s actresses are applying more pressure on studios to pay them the same as their male counterparts. Some actors like Benedict Cumberbatch have publicly said they’ll refuse roles that do not give equal pay to his female counterparts in solidarity.

A spokesperson for Marvel told THR, “Marvel Studios disputes the accuracy of these numbers, and as a matter of policy, we never publicly disclose salaries or deal terms.” Black Widow will be directed by Cate Shortland (Lore). She was the ultimate pick after interviewing a list of more than 70 potential picks to direct. A release date hasn’t been announced. Black Widow will next appear in 2019’s Avengers 4, which will presumably resolve the plot threads left by Infinity War.

Fortnite‘s challenges for Week 3 of Season 6 are now available, which means it’s time to get back on the grind and get those precious Battle Stars. As a refresher, completing these challenges reward you with Battle Stars which, in turn, level up your Battle Pass and allow you to unlock the sweet, sweet cosmetics for your character. Challenges are available in two sets, with one for all players to do and another just for those that have paid for a Battle Pass.

In the free to everyone section, this week’s challenges involve reviving a player in five different matches, getting one Damage Trap elimination, and starting the multi-stage challenge by searching a chest in Lonely Lodge. That’s all self-explanatory, though the Damage Trap elimination may take some perseverance.

In the paid Battle Pass section, there’s some trickier ones, the first of which is a multi-stage challenge that begins with visiting Risky Reels and Wailing Woods in a single match. On top of that you’ll need to hit a player with a Tomato from 15m or more away, eliminate an opponent in 10 different matches, and complete timed trials. Take a look at all the challenges for Season 6, Week 3 below.

Fortnite Season 6, Week 3 Challenges

Free Challenges

• Revive a player in different matches (5) — 5 Battle Stars
• Stage 1: Search a chest in Lonely Lodge (1) — 5 Battle Stars
• Damage Trap Eliminations (1) — 10 Battle Stars

Battle Pass

• Stage 1: Visit Risky Reels and Wailing Woods in a single match (2) — 5 Battle Star
• Hit a player with a Tomato 20m away or more (1) — 5 Battle Stars
• Complete timed trials (3) — 10 Battle Stars
• Eliminate an opponent in different matches (10) — 10 Battle Stars

These aren’t the only challenges that are available to do this week, as developer Epic Games has also rolled out a set of Halloween-themed unlocks to acquire. While the Skull Trooper (Male), Skull Ranger (Female) skin, Skull Sickle Harvesting Tool, and Crypt Cruiser Glider are available to purchase in store, in order to get the Ghost Portal Back Bling you’ll need to complete the Skull Trooper Challenges.

It’s been a busy week for Fortnite as, along with the two sets of challenges, Epic has also launched Fortnite Update 6.02. This new patch introduces a Limited-Time Mode called Disco Domination as well as the new Quad Launcher weapon. You can read all about those, as well as the other tweaks and changes made, in the Fortnite 6.02 patch notes.

Fortnite is now available on Android without bothering with an invite. The beta had previously been invite-only, but as of today you can download it to any Android device for free, without waiting. In the announcement, Epic directed users to the official site for the download.

Epic accompanied the announcement with recommended system specs for your Android device to get the optimal experience. You can check the list of supported devices to make sure yours fits the bill.

• OS: Recommended Android 8.0 or higher, 64 bit
• RAM: Recommended 4GB or higher
• GPU: Adreno 530 or higher, Mali-G71 MP20, Mali-G72 MP12 or higher

Plugging the official site is important, since Epic circumvented the Google Play store to release the application directly to users. That allows the studio to keep more of its profits, but has run the risk of security problems. Avoiding the safety of a known and trusted store also raises the risk of unscrupulous people confusing potential players. Most recently, dubious apps claiming to offer free V-bucks or cheats have been connected to phishing schemes. For obvious reasons, make sure to install through the official site.

Fortnite is in the middle of Season 6, dubbed Darkness Rises, with lots of spooky cosmetic items to mark the occasion. More Halloween skins appear to be on the way as well. For help unlocking all of the loot, be sure to check out our challenge guide. And if you want to make some Halloween merriment outside of Fortnite, read all about some other ongoing video game Halloween events to get into the spirit.

Challenges for Fortnite Season 6, Week 3 have now gone live and, for the most part, there’s nothing too taxing among them. In fact, it feels like a nice Halloween-themed romp around the island where you’re making mischief and getting candy (Battle Stars). However, one particular challenge involving timed trials stands out as being slightly tricky, so we’ve put together a quick guide to help you get it done quick. Here’s where to go and what to do.

The challenge in question is complete timed trials, which you may remember from Season 5, when this type of challenge made its debut. What you need to do and the process for completing it hasn’t changed since then, so here’s a breakdown. Scattered around the island are blue stopwatch collectibles and, when you pick one up, you’ll have an allotted amount of time to grab the rest of the them that appear in the area. If you’re new to this, it may take some trial and error as some of the collectibles require you to build your way up to them. Naturally, this means you’ll have to have the relevant resources on hand to craft the necessary platforms. In some areas it can also be advantageous to hop in a vehicle to get it done quick, so you’ll have to get a feel for whether that’s the case and then grab an ATK.

When it comes to finding the location of the timed trials, we recommend going for the other challenges first, but keeping your eyes peeled for the blue stopwatch pickups. In particular, the “search a chest in Lonely Lodge” and “visit Risky Reels and Wailing Woods” challenges are good trials to have as the main focus. These two challenges involve travelling around the map, so you’re likely to run into some trials along the way. This is a great way of streamlining the challenge completion process. Thankfully, there’s plenty of timed trials scattered around the island. The ones we found are listed below, along with screenshots of their locations.

Click image to view in full screen

• Outside Tomato Temple (Between G3 and G4)
• Left of Dusty Divot (F5)
• Hilltop south of Tilted Towers (D6)
• Bridge near Shifty Shifts (D8)
• Villains Hideout (Between B4 and B5)

Once you’ve completed three of the timed trials, you’ll get yourself 10 precious Battle Stars. The rest of the challenges shouldn’t be as difficult. Take a look at our full rundown of Season 6, Week 3’s challenges for more information on those.

Fortnite is currently feeling a bit spooky for Halloween, and if you want to be extra effective at putting the fear in other Fortnite players, developer Epic Games has released a bunch of new cosmetic that are worth checking out. These include the Skull Trooper skin, which makes its long-awaited return with a few extra customization options. There’s also the new Skull Ranger skin for the female character model, the Skull Sickle Harvesting Tool essential for that harbinger of doom look, and the Crypt Cruiser Glider so you look like death floating around the skies of Fortnite. These can all be purchased through the in-game store using V-Bucks.

However, the hottest Fortnite in-game item this Halloween is undoubtedly the Ghost Portal Back Bling, which emits ghostly apparitions of other skins. To get this you’ll need to complete the Skull Trooper Challenges, which will take a fair bit of dedication. You can see all the Skull Trooper Challenges and new cosmetics here.

If you need a break from the challenge grind, Epic has introduced a new Limited-Time Mode called Disco Domination. This mode tasks two teams with taking control over the most number of dance floors on the Island. Naturally, to secure a dance floor you’ve got to dance long enough to raise a disco ball. This mode was added as part of update 6.02, which also included the new Quad Launcher weapon. You can read about both of these additions, as well as other tweaks and changes in the Fortnite update 6.02 patch notes.