Category: Games

Half-Life: Alyx, a Half-Life pre-sequel, will release for all SteamVR-compatible headsets in March 2020. Valve has released a new trailer for the upcoming VR game and also revealed additional details about what players can expect–including community-building tools at launch.

The Half-Life: Alyx Steam page reads: “A set of Source 2 tools for building new environments will ship with the game, enabling any player to build and contribute new environments for the community to enjoy. Hammer, Valve’s level authoring tool, has been updated with all of the game’s virtual reality gameplay tools and components.”

The Steam page also reveals that pre-ordering Half-Life: Alyx prior to the end of 2019 will unlock special rewards, such as alternative skins to customize the look of Alyx’s arsenal. Purchasing the game early will also unlock special in-game Half-Life: Alyx-themed content for both Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2. You get a discount for pre-ordering too, knocking Half-Life: Alyx’s $60 USD launch price tag down to $54 USD. A copy of the game comes for free with a Valve Index VR headset.

Prior to deciding on Half-Life, Valve considered basing their new VR game on other franchises instead, such as Portal. “Portal is so much about flinging yourself through space and through portals that we thought, ‘Well, we’re just going to make people sick with this game,'” Valve software developer David Speyrer said. “A full-on Portal game seemed challenging.” When the team decided to put their new VR game into the world of Half-Life instead, Valve refrained from titling the project “Half-Life 3” in order to avoid the “terrifyingly daunting prospect” of the name.

In the lead up to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, returning director JJ Abrams has revealed how he reacted to the big twists in Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi, namely the abrupt death of Supreme Leader Snoke and Luke Skywalker’s dark revelation, and whether those surprises affected his plan for the Sequel Trilogy.

JJ Abrams on the Death of Supreme Leader Snoke

When asked by Rolling Stone what he thought of Snoke getting killed off, Abrams said, “When I read his first draft, it made me laugh, because I saw that was

take and his voice. I got to watch cuts of the movie as he was working on it, as an audience member. And I appreciated the choices he made as a filmmaker that would probably be very different from the choices that I would have made. Just as he would have made different choices if he had made Episode VII.”

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With an abundance of streaming providers, including the newly released Disney+ and Apple TV+ platforms, all competing for your hard-earned cash, knowing which streaming service is the best can be a pretty daunting task. If you still have questions about the future of streaming, then you’ve come to the right place. All week long, IGN’s State of Streaming initiative will be debuting reviews and in-depth analysis about current streaming providers like Netflix and Amazon, as well as upcoming services like NBCUniversal’s Peacock and WarnerMedia’s HBO Max. So keep it locked on IGN this week for all of your streaming needs.

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Welcome to Nintendo Voice Chat! This week, the NVC crew looks back on five years of amiibo, from the days when they were nearly impossible to find, all the way up to now. Watch as Brian relives some of the moments from old episodes of Nintendo Voice Chat when amiibo frenzy was at its peak. Then in the news, learn about early Pokemon sales data, Pocket Camp’s new subscription service, and more. Finally, the panel takes your listener queries on Question Block.

Timecodes!

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Baby Yoda, the adorable, unexpected star of The Mandalorian, is getting merchandise soon. According to a report from CNBC, shirts, plushes and toys featuring Baby Yoda could arrive as early as Friday – just in time for your holiday shopping.

According to those same sources, Amazon, Target, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Hot Topic, Box Lunch, and Zazzle are all planning on selling merchandise. Disney will also begin selling Baby Yoda merch at their physical and online stores as well as at the Disney theme parks.

This news arrives on the heels of an interview with ET in which series executive producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni explained that it was their decision to hold back on any promotional material or Baby Yoda merchandise so as not to spoil the surprise, which has been kept secret until the premiere of The Mandalorian’s first episode.

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Nintendo’s released a surprising amount of first-part games this year, including Pokemon Sword and Shield, Astral Chain, and Fire Emblem: Three Houses. You shouldn’t sleep on Luigi’s Mansion 3, either, which brings the beloved series back to consoles for the first time since the original Gamecube game. With it being a recently-released Nintendo game discounts are few and far between, but you can get it for under retail price ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, if you know where to look.

Luigi’s Mansion 3 Black Friday deals haven’t been announced, but you can still save by shopping at Walmart.

Luigi’s Mansion 3 — $49.94 (in-store only)

For most of the year, Walmart has routinely discounted new games, including Luigi’s Mansion 3, to $50 at launch. Unfortunately, the $10-off deal is usually only available in-store. If you click the link above, you’ll notice that Walmart’s website has Luigi’s Mansion 3 for the regular retail price of $60. Even though you have to go to the store to snag this deal, you can buy it now and avoid the Black Friday rush.

Outside of Walmart’s in-store price, it’s not looking like any major retailers will have discounts on Luigi’s Mansion 3 this Black Friday. Walmart, Best Buy, and Target have already released their ads, and GameStop has revealed some early Black Friday deals. Luigi’s Mansion 3 hasn’t shown up in any of them. We don’t know the North American Eshop Black Friday deals just yet, but the UK Black Friday sale doesn’t feature Luigi’s Mansion 3 either.

We’d recommend keeping an eye on Amazon, as the retailer will likely have waves of deals throughout Black Friday weekend. But considering the fact that Amazon routinely copies other retailers when it comes to game sales, we wouldn’t say a Luigi’s Mansion 3 discount is particularly likely at Amazon.

The charming Switch adventure earned an 8/10 in our Luigi’s Mansion 3 review. Reviewer Kevin Knezevic called Luigi’s Mansion 3 “perhaps the best installment in the series yet,” praising it for the numerous new mechanics and more open structure. While the controls can sometimes get in the way of the joyous experience, Last Resort Hotel is filled with clever puzzles, fun ghost encounters, and a treasure trove of hidden collectibles.