Category: Games

Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘ second summer update has arrived, adding dreaming, save backups, a weekly summer fireworks show, and more to the popular Switch life sim. That’s not all that’s new in the game right now, however; the Nook Shopping catalog has also added some new items to its seasonal collection.

Three new limited-time items are now available to order: the rodeo-style springy ride-on, the Hikoboshi outfit, and the Orihime outfit. You can find these listed under the Seasonal tab in the Nook Shopping terminal, and each one will be available through August 31. The former costs 2,000 bells, while the latter two are each 2,500.

On top of the new seasonal items, August brings a handful of new fish and bugs to catch in the game. Those in the Northern Hemisphere can now reel in moray eels, rays, and soft-shelled turtles–among other critters–from the ocean and river. This month also marks the last chance for Northern Hemisphere players to catch various beetles and other summer insects. You can learn more in our fish guide and bug guide.

As previously mentioned, New Horizons’ recent 1.4.0 update also added a new summer event: fireworks shows. Every Sunday evening starting at 7 PM your time, you’ll be able to watch fireworks in the game with your friends and villagers. Isabelle will be stationed in your town plaza during the show and hand you a free wearable bopper. Redd will also have his own raffle tent, where you’ll be able to win festive items like balloons, pinwheels, and fountain fireworks.

Beyond the in-game activities, update 1.4.0 also finally added the long-promised island backup function. This is only available for Switch Online subscribers, and it lets you back up your New Horizons save data in the event that you lose or damage your Switch. However, this function works a little differently from the typical cloud saves offered through the service; you can learn more in our guide on how to back up your Animal Crossing save.

Many countries might be slipping into a recession caused by the ongoing coronavirus crisis, but some in the video game space are enjoying record revenue and profits. Recently, Capcom announced that it had its most successful first-quarter to a year–that is, the three-month period from March to June–ever in 2020.

According to the press release, these numbers were driven by impressive sales for catalog titles Monster Hunter World: Iceborne and the Resident Evil 2 remake. The release of the Resident Evil 3 remake also drew a strong response. As previously announced, this period brought lifetime sales of the Resident Evil franchise to over 100 million units for the first time.

Not all aspects of Capcom’s business were quite as rosy, however. Net sales for the company’s arcade operations were down more than 50% from last year due to closures caused by COVID-19, and its amusement equipment numbers were down 20% as well. Overall, net sales went up 32.2%, and the company’s operating income increased 39.1% year-over-year. No word yet on how much Zenny that translates to.

Capcom has a couple of new projects in the pipeline, particularly the confusingly-named RE7 follow-up Resident Evil Village and the upcoming RE3 costume DLC. Village still doesn’t have a release date yet, and it’s not clear whether or not it’ll count as Resident Evil 8, as was rumored early on.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone will begin Season 5 this week, and Activision has rolled out a trailer detailing some of the new features and changes. Those teases include new maps, and big changes to the large-scale Warzone map.

The trailer starts with a Warzone change that has been rumored in the community. The stadium is getting its enclosed roof blown off, opening up a huge new area for firefights. It also shows what appears to be a supply train making the rounds in Verdansk, with several players landing directly on pieces of cargo.

From there, it moves into new maps for traditional Call of Duty multiplayer. Suldal Harbor and Petrov Oil Rig are both 6v6 multiplayer maps, while Verdansk International Airport will debut with Ground War and the Livestock map will be playable in Gunfight. The trailer also makes a point of showing some flashy new skins and cosmetics, though it doesn’t give them names.

The train was teased with viral videos distributed to streamers, hinting at things to come in the new season. That also confirmed the date for the new season, August 5. In preparation for that, you can begin pre-loading the patch on PS4. But be warned: It’s a big one again. On the bright side, the overall footprint of the game will be reduced by the update.

Developer Crystal Dynamics has confirmed that Spider-Man will join Marvel’s Avengers‘ roster as free, post-launch DLC. The studio also confirmed that the webslinger will be exclusive to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.

The team shared no specific information about how Spider-Man will play. There are also no screenshots of Spider-Man in-engine, signaling that Crystal Dynamics and co-developer Eidos-Montreal are still hard at work on the playable character.

Still, in a lengthy PlayStation Blog post, Crystal Dynamics’ associate art director Jeff Adams outlined what we can expect when Spider-Man arrives in the game after Marvel’s Avengers launches on September 4. Adams said Spider-Man’s “impressive acrobatic abilities will complement the experience, allowing you to seamlessly transition from navigation to combat,” stating he wants players to feel “graceful and light” while playing him.

In addition to the smooth gameplay Spider-Man presents, Adams specified he wants players to “be able to utilize a variety of web configurations and gadgets to enhance your traversal.” In order to make this happen, Adams said Spider-Man will get “unique skill trees” that will include an “impressive suite of iconic abilities and attacks at your disposal, [as well as the ability to decide] which gadgets and skills you wish to upgrade.”

Furthermore, with Spider-Man teaming up with Crystal Dynamics’ take on The Avengers, the webslinger will also get access to a variety of technology upgrades throughout the game. This includes “custom web shooter-based technology from Hank Pym, SHIELD, Stark Industries, and more.”

In terms of look, Crystal Dynamics’ Spider-Man for Marvel’s Avengers will be influenced by the work of both Steve Ditko and John Romita Sr., meaning players will see a Spider-Man that is both new and familiar to the source material. And when Spider-Man does arrive in-game, he’ll be introduced with a special event that’s comprised of “a series of unique challenges” designed for Spider-Man. These will test his abilities and, according to Crystal Dynamics, will yield “some exciting results.” He will also have multiple costumes like the rest of the game’s heroes.

Spider-Man is the second post-launch DLC confirmed for Marvel’s Avengers but the first one made exclusive to one console family. He joins Hawkeye, who will also accompany The Avengers sometime after the game drops this September for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Marvel’s Avengers is also coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is now a part owner of the XFL, the alternative football league created by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.

Johnson, his business partner and ex-wife Dany Garcia, and Gerry Cardinale’s investment firm RedBird Capital are now all stakeholders in the league. They spent $15 million combined to buy the XFL.

Sportico reports the deal with Johnson and his partners went through just hours before the league was supposed to be auctioned off. The $15 million offer was reportedly the only qualified proposal.

Jeffrey Pollack, XFL President and COO, said, “This is a Hollywood ending to our sale process and it is an exciting new chapter for the league. Dwayne, Dany and Gerry are a dream team ownership group and the XFL is in the best possible hands going forward.”

Johnson added that he’s excited to create something special for football fans and players.

“The acquisition of the XFL with my talented partners, Dany Garcia and Gerry Cardinale, is an investment for me that’s rooted deeply in two things – my passion for the game and my desire to always take care of the fans,” Johnson said.

With the purchase, Garcia will be the first and only female sports league owner independent from a team.

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The Rock and his partners save the football league from bankruptcy, after its return season was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In April, ESPN reported the league laid off nearly all its staff, and that there were no plans to return in 2021.

For more, read about the action movie role Dwayne Johnson wanted but didn’t get. Or, learn about the upcoming NBC comedy based on the life of the Rock.

Story reported by comicbook.

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Logan Plant is a news writer for IGN, and the Production Assistant for Nintendo Voice Chat, IGN’s weekly Nintendo show. You can find him on Twitter at @LoganJPlant.

Image Credit: Hiram Garcia

PlayStation has confirmed that Spider-Man will be coming to Marvel’s Avengers as a free PlayStation exclusive. Spider-Man will be released post-launch, so he won’t be available when Marvel’s Avengers is released on September 4.

In a new PlayStation Blog post, Marvel’s Avengers confirmed that Spider-Man will be added to the playable roster in early 2021 “at no additional cost” to anyone who owns the base game. As previously leaked, Spider-Man will be exclusive to PlayStation owners.

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A leaked retail listing previously seemed to indicate that Spider-Man would be an exclusive DLC character for Marvel’s Avengers. The retailer clarified that the listing was erroneous, but that appears to be damage control for a real leak.

Marvel’s Avengers previously announced other post-launch DLC characters like Hawkeye, but unlike Spider-Man, Hawkeye will not be exclusive to any one system.

For more, check out IGN First for Marvel’s Avengers for our full, exclusive coverage.

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Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN.

The very beginnings of IGN Prime 2.0 are now here, and we’re inviting you to come along for the ride. You can put in code FOUNDERSCIRCLE at checkout to get the first month for just $0.99. Here’s what you get out of it:

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This $0.99 discount is limited, and is only available on a first-come, first-serve basis, so you should jump in today. Reminder – just put in code FOUNDERSCIRCLE at checkout. You can quickly and easily cancel at any time.

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UPDATE: The Back to the Future 4K trilogy gift set is available again for preorder at Amazon.

Few movie series have withstood the test of time quite like the Back to the Future Trilogy. It’s kind of crazy how well they hold up, in spite of being a product of their time and completely missing the promise of working hoverboards in the year 2015. And yet… part two is (arguably) the best in the trilogy.

That’s not to say the other two movies aren’t great, because they are, but something about part two really sticks with people. The hoverboards from Back to the Future 2 are a pop-culture legend, and the upcoming 4K Blu-ray release of the original trilogy finally does what we’ve all been wanting since 1985: it brings us a real, working hoverboard.

OK, a tiny hoverboard replica, but it’s still a hoverboard!

Preorder the Back to the Future 4K Blu-ray Set With Hoverboard

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The Amazon edition of the Back to the Future 4K Blu-ray gift set includes the following:

• All 3 original movies on 4K Blu-ray and standard Blu-ray
• Digital codes for the movies
• Blu-ray bonus disc with special features
• Collectible packaging
• Levitating freaking hoverboard replica

In addition to Amazon, Best Buy and Target also have retailer-specific gift sets, although the Best Buy version does away with the hoverboard in favor of a triple-threat of exclusive Back to the Future steelbooks.

If you’re a steelbook collector, you know what that means: you have to buy the Amazon or Target set, too. Sorry, but such is life.

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Seth Macy is Executive Editor, IGN Commerce, and just wants to be your friend. Find him on Twitter @sethmacy.