Category: Games

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War takes place between the original Black Ops 1 and its sequel, Black Ops II–releasing in 2010 and 2012, respectively. Given that it’s been a while, we feel a refresher on the Black Ops characters and plot points is in order.

In the video above, we go over where we left off with central characters like Alex Mason, Frank Woods, and Jason Hudson, as well as which villains are still alive and what story cliffhangers are worth keeping in mind. If you haven’t played the first Black Ops, the game involves a lot of twisting plot points, including an attempt to assassinate Fidel Castro, a brainwashing program that has to do with mysterious numbers, chemical weapons, and betrayals.

Black Ops Cold War picks up 13 years after Black Ops with Russian spy Perseus infiltrating the United States nuclear weapons program. A new cast of operatives–Russell Adler and Lawrence Sims from the CIA, Eleazar from Mossad, and Helen Park from MI6–are trying to stop Perseus. The campaign bounces back and forth between the present day (1980s Europe) and flashbacks to the past, which take place in Vietnam.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War releases on November 13 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has a number of flashback missions. In this 4K gameplay, players head to Vietnam to take part in a helicopter assault on an enemy village. We get to meet younger versions of some of the game’s main characters, including CIA officers Russell Adler and Lawrence Sims as they discover the Russian superspy Perseus.

When looking at how Cold War looks on PS5, this level has a wide range of terrain, including a muddy American base, the jungle from the air, rivers, and town. This level also shows air-to-ground transitions. On PlayStation 5, Call of Duty enhancements can include 4K, high dynamic range, and ray-tracing.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War releases on November 13 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

The Xbox Series X and Series S didn’t end up launching with Halo Infinite, but the two consoles are still off to a huge start. According to head of Xbox Phil Spencer, more units were sold in the first 24 hours than in any other Xbox console launch.

As analyst Daniel Ahmad pointed out, this means the systems sold more than 1 million units, but it’s not clear what the exact figures were.

Spencer said the two systems were also sold in more countries than ever before, with Microsoft shiting to a simultaneous launch instead of a staggered launch like it did with the Xbox One. More consoles will be available “as quickly as possible,” so there’s a chance you could still receive one by Christmas–or give it as a gift.

Aside from it being impressive to break a sales record during a pandemic, the Xbox Series X and Series S also managed to do so when a competitor, the PS5, launched just two days later. In 2005, the Xbox 360 launched as the sole next-generation console that year, with the PS3 and Wii not arriving until 2006.

If you’re still looking to track down an Xbox Series X, you can check out our Xbox Series X order guide to help. You can also read our full Xbox Series X review and Xbox Series S review to help you decide which one is worth getting.

It’s almost inevitable that the launch period of a new console will come with a handful of unforeseen issues, and the Xbox Series X is no different. However a number of reported issues with the Series X’s disk drive are frustrating players–especially considering one of the big reasons for the $200 price increase from the Series S is the inclusion of a disk drive.

While Microsoft hasn’t said anything officially about any of the reported issues, and didn’t send a comment for Polygon’s report on the issues, users on Twitter and Reddit have posted videos of their disk drive problems.

One of the main disk drive issues appears to involve disks getting stuck halfway or not being accepted into the console. Sometimes this is accompanied by a loud clicking or clunking noise from the disk drive’s motor.

A thread on Reddit shows a number of users with the same problem, with some reporting that they needed to use a small amount (or sometimes quite a lot) of brute force to get the disk past the sticking point, due to the seal being new and still quite stiff. For the record, we don’t recommend brute-forcing your console without getting in touch with Xbox Support first.

Other videos show the Xbox Series X taking the disk but failing to load it, or making a loud noise while games are installing, but not at other times.

A now-deleted tweet that gained a lot of traction showed an Xbox Series X making concerning noises after a disk had been loaded, but an update tweeted from the same account said that the issue was confirmed to be with the specific disk used, and not the console.

Another loud ticking or clinking noise some have attributed to the disk drive is most likely a problem with the fan instead, as one user posted a video showing the diskless Xbox Series S making the same noise.

Another Reddit thread includes a video of a console with the same problem, though the user updated to say they had fixed the problem themselves, after opening up the console and finding that the fan was impacting on a cable that wasn’t sitting in the right place. Again, we don’t recommend trying to fix your console yourself, as it can void the warranty.

As with any new tech launch on this scale, it’s inevitable that some devices will be broken on arrival, whether due to factory faults or damage during shipping. As more people get their hands on the new Xbox, we’ll find out whether the new console has any recurring faults on a scale large enough to cause Microsoft to address it publicly–beyond a tweet reminding customers of the best way to get in touch with Xbox Support.

Microsoft was forced to comment on one supposed issue after a number of people posted videos with smoke coming out of the top of the Xbox Series X–their response was not to acknowledge a fault, but to ask people not to blow vape smoke into their consoles.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

As is the way every year, Black Friday is expected to have a slew of deals that can save you a ton of money on all manners of tech and gadgets. Best Buy, Target, and GameStop have all released their Black Friday 2020 ads, but you won’t have to wait until Thanksgiving weekend to snag yourself any sweet discounts. As part of its early Black Friday sale, Walmart has a TCL 55-inch 4K TV for only $148.

$148

The TCL 55-inch 4K TV comes with Roku built-in, giving you access to a huge number of streaming services and other apps. Some of the available services include Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu. It comes with WiFi capabilities and an ethernet port if you want to hardwire your TV to the internet as well as three HDMI 2.0 ports that can be used to connect your game consoles, streaming sticks, or any other HDMI-capable device.

This 4K TV may not have HDMI 2.1 ports, but it’s still perfectly capable of displaying your PS5 and Xbox Series X gameplay with no problem. It won’t be able to take advantage of HDMI 2.1’s specific features, such as VRR and 4K120Hz, but plenty of games only run at 4K and 60Hz, so it’ll be more than enough to provide a great experience. If you’d like to get a 4K TV with all the bells and whistles the next-gen consoles can take advantage of, check out our guide to the best 4K TV for the PS5 and Xbox Series X.

This deal just went live alongside a slew of other discounts as part of Walmart’s ongoing Black Friday Deals for Days Event. The online-only sale features lower prices on laptops, Bluetooth speakers, and movies. Walmart plans to release even more deals starting November 14, both online and in stores.

If you’re looking for more great deals, check out Walmart’s Black Friday ad. It includes a lot of different Blu-rays at lower prices and more, so now’s an excellent time to read up and get prepared for the big sales.

It sure seems like Netflix cancels a lot of shows. We listed 13 canceled Netflix shows in August, and then 11 more by the time we revisited the question in November. But Netflix says it’s no different from other services.

Netflix’s Global Head of TV, Bela Bajaria, said at the Paley International Council Summit (via Deadline) that the service renews two thirds of its shows.

“If you look at season twos and more, we actually have a renewal rate of 67%, which is industry standard,” Bajaria said. “We also do make a large amount of first season shows, which sometimes feels that we have more first season cancelations, but if you look at the renewal rate, it’s really strong.”

One thing that sets Netflix apart, Bajaria said, is that the company orders full seasons rather than pilots. That “results sometimes in more season one cancelations. Even with that, I still believe a season order is a better creative expression of a writer’s idea, so I still think that’s the right model for us.”

Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos chimed in, too, to explain that one of the problems Netflix faces is the changing way in which TV success is measured.

“The things that marked success prior to Netflix and OTT really had been getting to syndication, that was the goal and anything that didn’t get to 100 episodes…didn’t feel like a success, whereas I think many shows can be a success for being exactly what they are and you could tell that story in two seasons or one season or five seasons. I think it gets talked about so much because it’s measured against the old way of doing things,” Sarandos said. Television viewership habits have changed more in the past 10 or 15 years than they did in decades before that thanks to the advent of streaming and cable video recording, and things like Nielsen ratings that were once reliable are no longer go-to metrics.

Sarandos also said that while it does feel sometimes like Netflix cancels more shows than others, stories about Netflix cancelations are treated as “disproportionately” big news. And yes, we’re still mad about GLOW being canceled.