As suspected, Burger King and Sony are teaming up for a PlayStation 5 promotion in the US. The fast food giant is giving away 1,000 PS5 consoles, as well as copies of the Demon’s Souls remake and Sackboy: A Big Adventure, and you can win by eating a lot of burgers.
To enter for a chance to win, you’ll need to download the BK app or visit BK.com. When you spend $5 or more, you’ll get one token, and these can be redeemed for a shot at the prizes. The campaign runs from October 15 through November 22.
The top-tier prize is a PS5 console, and Burger King is giving away 1,000 of them. The fine print states the value of the console is $500 USD, so this is the standard disc version.
The secondary prizes include copies of PS5 launch titles Sackboy: A Big Adventure and Demon’s Souls, of which there will be 2,000 winners for each. Burger King is also offering up 1,000 codes for a three-month subscription to PlayStation Now.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has been available for almost two years and has received two DLC character packs as part of its Fighters Pass. The first pack included characters like Joker from Persona 5, Hero from Dragon Quest, Banjo & Kazooie, Terry Bogard from Fatal Fury, and Byleth from Fire Emblem: Three Houses. The second pack started with Min Min from ARMS, and the second character is Minecraft Steve.
Minecraft has been around since 2009, when its first official public alpha released, and has grown to be the best-selling video game of all time with over 200 million copies sold. Microsoft purchased Mojang Studios, the company behind Minecraft, for $2.5 billion in 2014. Despite this, Minecraft has continued to appear on Nintendo platforms such as the 3DS, Wii U, and Switch.
Masahiro Sakurai explained in his presentation that Steve can gather resources, build weapons, and create blocks. There are also variations of Steve that include Alex, Zombie, and Enderman. For Steve’s final smash, he shoots you into a zombie-and TNT-infested house while he enjoys some steak. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Fighters Pass Vol. 2 is available now, with four more fighters coming sometime before December 2021.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate update 9.0 is now live, and it brings the Minecraft DLC to the game. This means you can now play as Steve–who can be reskinned as Alex, a Zombie, or an Enderman–and play on the new level, Minecraft World.
This DLC is available separately, or is available as part of the Fighters Pass Volume 2. Steve’s moves and attacks were previously revealed, but now you can try them for yourself.
A quick play suggests that Steve is a strong fit for Smash Bros., although learning the nuances of his attacks will take time. We can also confirm that the game’s announcer says “Steve!” with immense enthusiasm when you choose him as a playable character (he sounds more subdued on “Alex”.)
Right now, a new freebie is available as well for Switch Online subscribers, so make sure you download it.
There are four more DLC characters coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate before the end of 2021, but the others have not been revealed yet.
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Getting 1993’s Doom running on unusual devices has become a fun meme, with the most recent example being a monochrome version of the classic FPS running on a pregnancy test. Now, thanks to Xbox Game Pass and its recent addition of Doom Eternal, it’s possible to run the most recent Doom on even more devices–even a fridge.
Now that game streaming has come to Xbox Game Pass via Cloud Gaming, you can run your games through Android devices. It’s not just phones and tablets, either–one player has got the service up and running on their fancy smart fridge.
In an Instagram post, Richard Mallard (Twisted420) showed off Doom Eternal running on his Samsung smart fridge. It’s running through a Samsung Galaxy Fold 2, which has Smart View, allowing him to project the game through the fridge.
In the video below, Mallard says that there’s “a bit of latency” playing the game this way, but on the plus side it’s easier than ever to grab a drink while you’re playing.
It’s not just Doom Eternal, either–it looks like a wide variety of games are playable on fridge with the right set-up.
If you want to play Doom Eternal on the go but don’t want to use data or link your device up with an expensive fridge, the game is still coming to Nintendo Switch.
Starting soon, people who are still playing on Xbox 360 will be able to use cloud saves at no extra cost. Currently, cloud saves are locked behind the Xbox Live Gold paywall, but Microsoft is removing this fee in the lead-up to the next-gen launch. This is meant to help people feel more comfortable about upgrading to the Xbox Series X and S consoles.
As announced previously, the Xbox Series X and S consoles will support thousands of Xbox games dating back to the original Xbox and covering Xbox 360 and Xbox One as well. Games purchased digitally on previous-generation hardware will automatically show up on Xbox Series X/S if you decide to buy either system, while you can also insert an OG Xbox, Xbox 360, or Xbox One disc into the Xbox Series X and then install the game to play that way. The Xbox Series S has no disc drive.
“Preserving the games of our past is fundamental to our DNA at Xbox and our continued promise to you,” Xbox’s Peggy Lo said in a statement. “Backward compatibility lets you experience your cherished gaming memories again and in new ways. Your favorite games retain everything the original developer intended, while experiencing enhancements and exciting new features. There’s no need to look back, because your games are ready to move forward with you to the next generation of Xbox.”
A new Reigns game is coming to Apple Arcade, and it’s quite different from previous titles. While Reigns, Reigns: Her Majesty and Reigns: Game of Thrones have all placed you in a royal court, Reigns: Beyond sees you making decisions for an indie rock band that travels through space, recruiting aliens to play with them.
The game, which will be exclusive to Apple’s subscription service, with involve recruiting aliens for your band, managing ship resources, and making sure that your crew is kept in line. The Reigns series has always used a swipe left/swipe right control system to choose between options, like a dating app, and Beyond will feature the same controls.
While the trailer above makes the game look very different from previous entries, screenshots released so far will look familiar to Reigns fans, in terms of both UI and art style. You can check those out below.
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Developer Nerial has promised over 60 characters to meet, and over 1400 decision cards to swipe between. The game also has an original soundtrack from Sam Webster, who composed the music of Grindstone, another Apple Arcade title.
GameSpot gave the most recent Reigns game, Game of Thrones, an 8/10 in its review. Reviewer Chris Pereira called it “a genuinely fun experience: a choose-your-own adventure where you’re faced with non-stop decisions and a seemingly endless combination of ways for things to play out.”
There are tons of great deals circulating on Amazon Prime Day, including some dynamite PC deals, some great Nintendo deals, and so much more.
If PC gaming is your style and you are a fan of gaming laptops or have always wanted to jump in (to experience the immaculate perfection of potent, portable gaming), I have more great news. You can save up to $600 on the Razer Blade 15 gaming laptops. Both the Advanced and Base models are on sale, and the deal applies to the 2020 model, so you’ll be set to play the latest games in style.
Before the deals, there is something important you should know. Right now, if you’re going to spend $40 on Amazon, you can save some cash and send yourself a $40 gift card and Amazon will send you $10 in Amazon credit within 24-48 hours.
Also, it’s important to note that you’ll need to have an active Amazon Prime account to score the steepest of discounts. You can sign up for Amazon Prime right here. Moreover, if you’ve never taken advantage of the free trial for Prime, pick up the 30-day trial right now and save money even without a subscription. You can even cancel your subscription before the first bill shows up, if you want to roll that way. If you’ve already used the free trial, you can subscribe for $12.99 a month, or $119 for a full year.
Brian Barnett writes wiki guides, deals posts, features, and much more for IGN. You can get your fix of Brian’s antics on Twitter and Instagram (@Ribnax).
Amazon Prime Day 2020 has officially begun. Today and tomorrow, October 13 and 14, you can find tons of deals from the online retailer on a wide variety of products, ranging from video games, movies, tabletop games, and much more. But if you’re big on Amazon’s varied ecosystem of electronics, you’ll be happy to know that many of their most popular devices have been marked down for the occasion.
With so many different deals available on Amazon’s plethora of devices, it can be a little overwhelming trying to find the best savings, so we’ve rounded up some of the best deals we’ve found so far. These deals cover a range of Amazon devices, including the retailer’s latest tablets, speakers, and Fire-enabled TVs.
If your current smart TV’s capabilities aren’t up to snuff, or if you want to add smart TV-style functionality to an older TV, then you ought to grab a Fire TV Stick. It supports 4K resolution streaming, hundreds of apps, and allows you to use Alexa voice commands. And for a more detailed analysis, check out our sister site CNET’s breakdown of the Fire TV Stick 4K. You can also look at our list of the best streaming devices.
The Fire HD 10 sports the largest display in Amazon’s tablet series yet. It’s also 30% faster than the previous iteration, with a 2.0 GHz octa-core processor and 2 GB of RAM. If you’ve not yet owned a tablet and are looking for something accessible, the Fire HD 10 is definitely a worthwhile choice.
If not a Fire HD 10 tablet for yourself, then consider one for your kids. With similar specs as the adult model, the Kids Edition is a great purchase to keep your children entertained and involved while you handle the daily grind. It comes packed with easy-to-use parental controls that can limit screen time, set educational goals and curfews, and manage content for up to four profiles. And the deal is only sweetened by a 2-year warranty in case of any unexpected breaks.
Having an Echo Dot is one thing, but getting one mounted on a Baby Yoda stand is another thing entirely. This bundle is clearly for the Baby Yoda fans out there, or really, just the novelty of it all. And at a slight discount, you can’t go wrong, mostly if you don’t already own an Echo Dot. If only Amazon created a unique Echo model where Alexa only works with Yoda statements, this package would be complete.
Having proper security in your home is never a bad investment. With the Ring Video Doorbell, you can keep appropriate tabs on who comes and goes by your doorstep, which is especially handy if you’re the type who mostly orders goods online. This particular bundle comes with the Ring Video Doorbell and an Echo Dot, which can work together to notify you of incoming visitors and allow you to speak to them. For more, check out CNET’s detailed breakdown of the Ring Video Doorbell 2.
Echo Studio is the most premium Alexa-enabled Echo device available right now. Its immersive sound is made possible with five built-in speakers that produce punchy bass, clear highs, and dynamic midrange. And with its advanced sensors, it automatically adapts to the acoustics of whichever rooms it’s placed to ensure optimal sound quality. For more, check out CNET’s detailed breakdown of Echo Studio.
If you’re looking for a Smart TV that’s equipped with all the capability and functionality offered by Amazon’s Fire TV Stick, then this Insignia brand 50-inch TV should be a proper fit. This particular model supports both 4K and HDR content. And with Alexa-enabled voice control, you can easily navigate to what you want to watch in seconds.
The eero mesh Wi-Fi system should meet the needs of larger households that struggle to maintain stable internet connection. This 3-pack, in particular, should ensure coverage in homes up to 5,000 square feet. If your home is slightly bigger or if you prefer a mesh system that supports higher internet speeds, there are pricier models available. Regardless, the convenience and control provided by the base model makes it a wonderful choice for those who need a solid and affordable solution for their Wi-Fi woes. Check out our CNET’s great breakdown of the eero mesh Wi-Fi system for more details.
The Echo Show 8 is a convenient screen you can place anywhere in your house or apartment that allows for a variety of uses. Whether it’s accessing a video call, watching movies, controlling other Amazon devices in your ecosystem, or displaying photos, the Echo Show 8 is a handy device that can complement any home. For a more detailed analysis, check out CNET’s breakdown of Echo Show 8.
In a world dominated by visual media, it can be easy to forget the importance of reading, making it all the more important to do so. Fortunately, the Kindle Paperwhite is a dedicated device that can help you focus on doing just that. If you’ve not bought a Kindle before, this model is a great place to start. The base 8GB model is perfect for text-only books. And with the thinnest, lightest design yet and waterproofing, you can take the Kindle Paperwhite just about anywhere to get your essential reading on.
When you hear the words “free-to-play,” you probably think of very specific kinds of games: mobile time-killers, first-person shooters with loot boxes, MMORPGs. However, a story-driven, open-world action-RPG in a similar vein to Zelda: Breath of the Wild is probably not what springs to mind. But that’s exactly what Genshin Impact aims to be. It delivers a large, lore-filled, graphically lush world with nuanced combat, character-building, exploration mechanics, and co-op crossplay across multiple platforms at the most appealing price point possible–free! And while it succeeds admirably for the most part, it stumbles in a few key ways that remind you that there’s no such thing as a fully free-to-play game.
Genshin Impact makes a great first impression. The anime-inspired visuals are inviting and colorful, and the fully voiced, nicely choreographed cutscenes give the game the feel of a premium product. It also gets you going with the gameplay very quickly; thanks to solid control design, you’ll be running, swimming, climbing, dodging, gliding, fighting slimes, and slinging spells just a few minutes after the intro cutscenes wrap up. And once your first additional party member officially joins your posse, things start to get very interesting, as you’ll start to learn the ins and outs of the elemental interactions that make Genshin Impact unique.
Each character in Genshin Impact has one of seven elemental properties tied to them, which greatly affects what they can do for combat and exploration. While systems of strong and weak elements are extremely common in games, Genshin Impact takes things a step further, introducing unique and interesting ways for multiple elements to interact with objects and enemies. It starts with simple interactions: an object aligned with Dendro (nature) like a wood shield or structure burns with damaging flames when exposed to Pyro attacks, while pools of water can be frozen with Cryo element skills or used as a conduit for causing Electro damage in an area. Experimenting with other elemental combinations will yield more interesting results; setting an enemy on fire and following up with an Electro attack overloads them with energy and causes area damage, while using a windstorm can blow another source of elemental damage like Pyro or Hydro elsewhere while augmenting its strength.
You can swap between four active characters with a tap of the D-pad, giving you the ability to strategically chain attacks to great effect. The system makes party formation interesting: Do you double up on elements for bonuses or field a team of different elements, just in case you run across unexpected challenges and puzzles where they could be useful? It’s a fun and creative system that adds a lot of enjoyment to exploring Genshin Impact’s world, Teyvat.
And there’s plenty to do here, too. Even though many areas of Teyvat haven’t been made available to explore yet, there’s still plenty to do and see. There are chests to find, teleportation spots to activate, all kinds of raw materials to accumulate, side quests to complete, and big baddies to try and slay. If you want to stop exploring and relax a little, you can try your hand at cooking food, forging weapons, and even conjuring up rare items through alchemy. If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, you can even explore certain dungeons with others online using co-op play–and, thanks to cross-platform compatibility, it’s easy to join up with others no matter what they’re playing on. Setting up elemental combos with a team of players is very satisfying indeed.
You’ll get more party characters, weapons, and loot as you play through the game normally, but there is a way to get some extra goodies: by opening up your wallet. [Editor’s note: Everything written here refers to version 1.0 of the game. As Genshin Impact is an ongoing games-as-a-service title, monetization methods and drop rates can change as the game evolves.] Genshin Impact’s monetization revolves primarily around “gacha,” a Japanese term referring to a loot box-style system. You spend in-game currency on a “wish” that will get you either a weapon or a new character, and buying 10 wishes at once guarantees a character or weapon of four-star or better rarity. While you can obtain said currency in-game for free in various ways, you can also buy it directly with real money. You can also use real money to buy upgrades like item sets or a Battle Pass that yields better rewards for your questing endeavors.
Besides utilizing a confusing currency conversion system (you buy Genesis Crystals, which you can convert to Primogems, which you then convert to Fates to spend on Wishes), the gacha can be very punishing. If you’re going for the top-tier gacha rewards, you’re either going to need to be really lucky or prepared to spend a lot of time and/or money. The drop rate for the coveted five-star characters is a mere 0.6%. Fortunately, every 10-wish roll comes with at least one four-star weapon or character, and these are more than sufficient to take on the game’s tougher challenges. It’s also possible to not spend at all–if you carefully save the Fate and Primogems you acquire in-game, you can still assemble a formidable team. With a 10-wish costing about $20-$30 (depending on how many Genesis Crystals you buy at once), opening your wallet to try for the best stuff can get very pricey very fast.
Despite this, Genshin Impact generally manages to dodge a lot of “pay-to-win” issues. Even if you get good characters and weapons, you still have to learn to use them well and gather materials to improve their abilities, which can only be achieved through gameplay, and the items you can buy aren’t an immediate gateway to becoming overpowered.
However, like many free-to-play titles, Genshin Impact is built around getting you to invest time in the game every day. You’ll need to explore to find hunting and harvesting spots for materials needed not only for crafting and cooking, but also upgrading your characters and weaponry and increasing your Adventurer’s Rank. The Adventurer’s Rank in particular can be rather frustrating, particularly early on. Many features like co-op play, certain regions of the map, special dungeons, and even the ability to start crucial story quests are gated behind certain rank numbers, which restricts your play in an otherwise open-world adventure. While plenty of activities in the game yield experience points for the Adventurer’s Rank, it can be tedious to spend time doing side quests and exploring areas you’re not particularly interested in to open up parts of the game that you do want to see.
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Another major issue is that, while Genshin Impact is certainly a very nice-looking game, its world doesn’t offer much that’s all that interesting to see. The landscapes, dungeons, and enemies are generic and samey, with little in the way of interesting areas or architecture to make the world feel distinct from many other anime-inspired fantasy environments. The character design has a similar problem; while the characters certainly aren’t unappealing, most of their designs don’t really stand out as being particularly striking or memorable.
One more important factor that might turn players off is that, because developer MiHoYo is located in mainland China, Genshin Impact is subject to rules imposed by the Chinese government regarding online chat, which means certain politically sensitive terms (like “Taiwan” and “Hong Kong”) are censored in conversation during co-op play. While this is an issue that affects all games from China, some players will understandably not be comfortable playing a game that’s subjected to such heavy government censorship.
Overall, Genshin Impact is a solid game hampered a bit by the restrictions its free-to-play model imposes. The overall production values are high, and the core gameplay is solid. In particular, the elemental interaction system is a ton of fun and gives the game a distinct personality. But while there’s a lot to do, having several chunks of Genshin Impact gated off until you’ve reached a higher rank is an obnoxious restriction for an open-world game to have–and once you finally do see what lies in those unexplored areas, it’s often a bit underwhelming. Still, it’s a solid start, and I’ll certainly be interested in seeing how Genshin Impact continues to evolve in future updates.
Los Angeles Comic-Con is off for 2020. Comikaze Entertainment announced Tuesday that the show is cancelled for this year, but set a date for 2021. The event was originally scheduled for December 11-13, 2020, but con-goers can now mark their calendars for September 24-26, 2021.
“Last week on Oct. 7, Gov. Newsom finally gave an update on reopening plans for theme parks, which most people thought would precede event and convention guidelines,” Comikaze said in an official statement. “In his announcement, the Governor said he had decided not to provide reopening guidelines yet for theme parks, and by extension, events. Without guidelines, there is no way for LA County, the city, or event organizers like us to know if the plans and changes we made to be safe will be right, or enough. So with that new direction from the state, we are rescheduling.”
Comikaze says that all tickets purchased for the 2020 event are refundable, and any others will roll over to the 2021 event. The company also says that all talent booked for 2020 will appear at the 2021 show, including the just-announced appearances of Zachary Levi (Shazam!) and Tom Welling (Smallville). Con-goers who went in for the limited-edition Kevin Smith/Silent Bob Funko POP toy can also choose between picking it up at the warehouse, paying to have it shipped, or picking it up at Los Angeles Comic-Con in 2021.
While you wait for conventions to return, reminisce with us and check out some of our convention cosplay galleries from years past: LACC 2016, FanimeCon 2018, and PAX East 2019.
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