Category: Games

The new Lost Lair update for Grindstone, the monster-slaying puzzle-fighter, is available now for free. The new Lost Lair update adds 20 new levels with new hazards, like TNT crates and molten-grindstone lava, plus a new mini-boss and boss.

The Lost Lair is an abandoned mine located near the peak of Grindstone Mountain, for players to explore after completing the main game. In addition to the new levels, the update is bringing new weekly community challenges to the game, offering new cosmetics for players to unlock.

The challenges can be accessed from Dottie’s house, where Jorj’s family lives. The community challenges will offer new hats, which can be equipped with any armor set in the game. The cosmetics will be exclusive to that week’s challenges and can only be unlocked by completing the challenge.

The Lost Lair update is available now for free and Grindstone is available on Nintendo Switch and Epic Games Store for $20 USD. Grindstone is also available on Apple Arcade as part of the monthly subscription.

A trio of writers at Halo Infinite developer 343 Industries have announced a partnership with publishing house Dark Horse Comics to release a nearly 500-page Halo Encyclopedia for the most ardent of franchise fans out there.

Franchise and narrative writer Jeff “GrimBrotherOne” Easterling posted the news on the game’s official website. The new Halo Encyclopedia–written by Jeremy Patenaude, Kenneth Peters, and Easterling–is slated to arrive on March 29, 2022 and comes in at around 25% larger than the previous one. Preorder details are said to be “coming very soon,” according to Easterling.

Easterling said the Halo universe continues to expand, especially with the imminent release of Halo Infinite. 343 wanted this new Halo Encyclopedia to compile that massive amount of lore into something every fan can enjoy.

“Whether you’ve been a fan since the turn of the millennium, poring over Marathon connections on the Bungie.org story pages or have only recently found yourself enamored by the big green hero and all of his eclectic friends (and enemies), we wanted to celebrate with something that helps collect a lot of that magic in one spot,” Easterling wrote.

The Halo Encyclopedia serves as a companion of sorts to Halo Infinite. Though it doesn’t have a release date, the newest entry in the series arrives later this year, making the Halo Encyclopedia a perfect diving board to jump back into the franchises’ iconic characters, enemies, vehicles, and weapons.

In addition to the bevy of information, the new Halo Encyclopedia will include various pictures from across the series’ history, ranging from “fresh and newly captured game assets” to well-known classic imagery. Fans can also expect “a few cool things first introduced by this encyclopedia itself.”

Check out the official blog post for a full breakdown of the work that went into the new Halo Encyclopedia, as well as to get a look at the new images.

In other Halo Infinite news, a technical preview for the game’s multiplayer is “creeping closer,” according to community director Brian Jarrard. Signups are available via the Halo Insider program.

A beta for Gran Turismo 7 has reportedly leaked via the PlayStation website. As reported by GTPlanet, the beta appears as part of Experience PlayStation, a promotional aspect of the PlayStation website that engages players with special promotions through quests and videos.

GameSpot was unable to verify this independently, but reports said the beta could be accessed by going to the “Start Quest” and “Related Campaigns,” where the “Italia Quest” could be accessed. The quest no longer appears on the Experience PlayStation page, which currently reads “Sorry! There are no quests available at this time!” There were four quests, one of which was called “Gran Turismo Beta (Test),” where after watching a short video players would receive a code for the beta test, however, it was instead just a placeholder code that didn’t work.

Despite the code not being live, this quest seems to indicate that there is a Gran Turismo 7 beta possibly coming in the future. The reward code specified that it was for “PS5 Only,” however that might just be because that beta code is only for PS5, since Herman Hulst, the head of PlayStation Studios, said Gran Turismo 7 would be releasing on both PS4 and PS5. Gran Turismo 7 is set to release sometime in 2022 and the Experience PlayStation page did not indicate when the beta might go live.

In Fortnite Season 7 Week 6, you’ll need to place cow decoys in farms in order to earn the 30,000 XP associated with this Legendary Quest. It’s one of several challenges that has players once more exploring the region around Farmer Steel’s farm–the same Farmer Steel who, despite his protests and demands to be left alone– has been thrust into a starring role in the Season 7 story. If you’re looking for cow decoy locations, we’ve got a map and written guide to help you right here.

Where To Place Cow Decoys In Fortnite

Cow decoys are likely the latest ploy of Doctor Slone, who is hellbent on sabotaging the alien invasion. For this quest, you’ll need to place three cow decoys in farms, specifically in and around Corny Complex. While the Legendary Quest demands you place three of these cow decoys across the land, we’ll show you the location of 14 that are meant to appear when the challenge is live–you can choose which three work best for you.

You can place cow decoys with Corny Complex:

• Near the western white hay shed
• Among the crops west of the central barn
• Northwest of the central barn in front of the large building
• To the southern limit of Corny Complex nearby the small building
• Slightly west of the southeastern small shed
• Between the house and the crops southeast from the house
• Farther southeast from the previous cow decoy near the southeastern edge of the crops

According to leaks, there will even be seven more cow decoy locations around Steel Farm, which is just northeast across the river from Corny Complex. We’ve also gone and marked those in case you prefer to check there.

Find cow decoys at Steel Farm:

• By the trees north of the house
• By the eastern edge of the corn crops
• Slightly southeast from there before you cross the road
• Another across the road even more south
• At the cliff’s base to the west
• Southeast from there to the nearby intersection of grass and dirt
• Slightly south of the house

What can we expect story-wise from this quest, you might ask? Well, since these appear to be Slone’s orders, we can assume these decoys are more than just the standees they seem to be. Given the Imagined Order’s cutting-edge tech, we speculate these cows, once abducted and brought onto the Mothership, may include some sort of secret sabotage element–a Trojan cow, if you will.

Even with a more story-oriented season, Epic is still playing the long game. After all, we haven’t even seen Superman show up yet. In the meantime, get ready for the Week 6 challenges and Week 6 Alien Artifacts. Otherworldly attractions are also coming by way of the new LeBron James skin too.

Elite Dangerous creator Frontier Developments has confirmed that the Odyssey update for consoles has been delayed indefinitely so the studio can focus on addressing the myriad issues plaguing the expansion on PC.

In a blog post on the game’s forum pages, founder and CEO David Braben said working on the issues affecting the PC release of Elite Dangerous Odyssey has resulted in the development timeline for consoles shifting. As such, the Odyssey update for consoles has been pushed back indefinitely so that Frontier Developments can ensure it is in tip-top shape before release. The studio didn’t give the Odyssey update on consoles a new release date.

“We have spent a lot of time discussing and re-evaluating our previous plans and we have made the decision to prioritize the core PC experience for Elite Dangerous,” Braben wrote. “Ultimately, we believe it is right to focus our efforts on the core Elite Dangerous Odyssey experience for the platforms that we have released on, before opening up to more.

Braben said prioritizing PC makes the most sense because whatever issues are found–and then ironed out–there will inevitably benefit other platforms. But the PC issues need to be fixed first.

“We do not want to rush into confirming any dates or changes this has on our console release, as we must remain fully focused on the core Elite experience,” Braben continued. “Only when we feel that the foundation of the PC release is solid, will we be able to re-lay our console roadmap on top.”

Players can expect “monthly development updates” on work-in-progress content and issues the team may run into while fixing the game. This is in an effort to be more transparent going forward.

The Odyssey update was a major expansion for Elite Dangerous, adding several worlds to explore and the ability to traverse on foot. However, it came with a plethora of bugs, including game-crashing glitches and inconsistent performance. Braben previously apologized for these issues before Frontier Developments rolled out a June patch to fix some of the game’s problems.

Elite Dangerous is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. For the time being, the Odyssey update is only on PC.

The Steam Summer Sale has come and gone, but Steam players can still take advantage of some excellent deals for the platform, especially fans of Capcom franchises like Monster Hunter and Resident Evil. PC games store Fanatical has kicked off a big sale on Capcom games for Steam, and it includes a discount on the newly released Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin, a preorder discount on The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, and a slew of other markdowns on other recent and older Capcom titles.

Though Steam is matching Fanatical’s deal on the Deluxe edition of Monster Hunter Stories 2 (on sale for just under $60), the standard edition deal is currently only available at Fanatical. The base game is on sale for $50.39, $10 off the list price. Just released July 9, the turn-based RPG spin-off received a 7/10 in GameSpot’s Monster Hunter Stories 2 review, which you can check out for more info.

Capcom’s murder-mystery series is expanding on July 27 with The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, which you can preorder on sale for $34 via Fanatical (it’s full price on Steam). A prequel spin-off series that combines The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures and The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles will mark the first release of these games outside of Japan.

The usual slew of Capcom deals are featured here as well, including markdowns across the board on Resident Evil games. The newest entry, Village, is $10 off, while Resident Evil 3 is $18; Resident Evil 2’s Deluxe edition is on sale for the same price. Other deals of note include Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen for $8.39, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 for $7, and Devil May Cry HD Collection for $18. All of these are PC keys that must be redeemed on Steam.

For deals for PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, be sure to check out a big clearance sale Best Buy’s running this week, which is bringing huge discounts on a selection of titles. Capcom fans can snag Devil May Cry 5 for Xbox One for just $15; you can also pick up Control for under $10, Ghost Recon Breakpoint for $6.49, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD for $11, and more.

The Epic v. Apple lawsuit has concluded in the United States, pending a judgment that could still be several weeks or even a few months away. But like that U2 album that Apple gave away for free, the suit will never actually go away and tends to pop up when you least expect it. The case is now set to be heard separately in Australia.

The Gamer reports that after Epic began the legal challenge in Australia, Apple argued that the case should be limited to the United States and can be settled entirely there. But Epic won out, which means that the lawyers will present their cases in the Australian court system as well.

Australian law reportedly differs slightly than US law on this front, as the question will be whether Apple is violating Australia’s Competition and Consumer Act. The court will determine whether Apple’s business practices “substantially lessen competition in the market.” Historically, Apple has argued that it does not violate antitrust law because it only controls the iOS market, not the also-sizable Android market.

“The ACCC welcomes the Full Court’s decision on this appeal, which means that Epic Games’ case against Apple alleging contraventions of Australia competition law will now be heard in Australia, not in the US,” The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said in a statement. “We will continue to take a strong interest in this case, which raises important issues for competition in the digital marketplace.

Similarly, in 2018 the ACCC ruled that Valve would be subject to a fine in the country, stating, “This important precedent confirms the ACCC’s view that overseas-based companies selling to Australian consumers must abide by our laws.”

An Apple spokesperson suggested the company may appeal the decision, saying that Australia’s Federal Court already ruled in April that Epic will resolve its disputes in California. “We respectfully disagree with the ruling made today.”

If that appeal fails and lawyers on both sides are forced to re-litigate their cases in front of an Australian court, it’s possible we may see some witnesses called to testify once again. Though Apple’s Tim Cook and Epic’s Tim Sweeney were the highest-profile witnesses to take the stand during the court case this spring, several other witnesses gave insightful testimony that shed more light on Apple and Epic’s business practices. And both companies were frustrated by leaked documents that revealed plans and information they didn’t intend to become public.