GameStop’s latest batch of weekly deals are live now with some nice discounts on Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Borderlands 3, and 2K Sports games. But the most notable aspect of this week’s ad is the looming Pro Day Sale. Once again, GameStop will be offering exclusive discounts to PowerUp Rewards Pro members this Saturday, June 27. None of the one-day-only deals have been revealed just yet, but you should mark your calendars and bookmark this page, as we’ll be rounding up all the best deals as usual.
In the meantime, you can save on some great games all week at GameStop. Two of 2019’s most popular games, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Borderlands 3, are discounted to great prices on PS4 and Xbox One. Fallen Order is down to $35, while Borderlands 3 is only $20. Basketball fans can save $10 on NBA 2K20 for PS4 and Xbox One and $5 on NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 for Switch. For those looking for a family-friendly game on Switch, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is on sale for $40.
If you’re looking for a way to relive your childhood, the excellent Sega Genesis Mini is $60, down from $80. Though we’ve seen it for $50 before, this is still a great price. The Sega Genesis Mini comes with two controllers and is loaded with 42 classic games.
Lost Treasures also implements several notable balancing changes, as listed in the patch notes. Of note, Revenant, Crypto, Loba, and Mirage all receive buffs, Gibraltar and Caustic are nerfed, Wraith and Wattson get both buffs and nerfs to their abilities, and Lifeline and Octane are reworked–both of their changes are similar to Mirage’s transformation at the start of Season 5: Fortune’s Favor.
The Lost Treasures update makes a rather interesting change to ziplines as well, applying a cooldown to re-grabbing ziplines without touching the ground. Jumping off and back on ziplines while riding them has been a popular strategy for avoiding gunfire since Apex Legends launched. This new cooldown will make it more difficult to constantly implement this strategy–which should make it far easier to snipe someone off a zipline.
The full patch notes for the Lost Treasure Collection Event are listed below.
Apex Legends Lost Treasure Collection Event Patch Notes
Armed & Dangerous Evolved
The Armed & Dangerous Limited time mode has evolved. In this LTM, only Shotguns and Snipers are allowed. You’ll also start with a Mozambique and Evo armor. All other armor has been removed from the loot pool. But that’s not all. Respawn beacons will also be removed and all players will start with the Mobile Respawn Beacon in their inventory.
Mobile Respawn Beacons
Need to Respawn on the go? Use the new Mobile Respawn Beacons! In the Armed and Dangerous LTM, players will start the match with one in their inventory. Then from the inventory screen, deploy it anywhere on the map and save your fallen teammates. But beware, calling in a Respawn Beacon takes time, giving your enemies time to find you, take you out, and use that Beacon you just deployed. So find that safe spot before you call it in.
Crypto Town Takeover
Crypto is taking over and providing some recon to Kings Canyon. Located at the south-east of the map (under Repulsor), lies Crypto’s Map Room. Use his tech to get the location of all Legends on the map and check the screens scattered around the room to see how many enemy squads are nearby.
Heirloom – Mirage’s Trophy
Isn’t that a handsome guy! Yes, it’s true, your man Mirage is getting his Heirloom! The gorgeous statue is one of a kind (sort of) and will ensure you look good in the arena.
Legend Updates
Lifeline
Passive
Combat Revive now replaces Combat Medic.
Deploy D.O.C to revive teammates. D.O.C. will deploy a shield and revive Lifeline’s teammate, leaving Lifeline free to defend or revive someone else.
This fully replaces Lifeline’s old passive, including Fast Heal
Tactical
Lifeline’s Tactical cooldown is now 45 seconds (was 60 seconds).
Ultimate
Lifeline’s Care Package now contains more items
Care Package will contain 3x more small healing items, when it decides to spawn small healing items
Care Package will contain 2x more attachments, when it decides to spawn attachments
Octane
Tactical
Upon activation, Stim will remove movement impairing effects.
Stim sprinting speed is increased by 10%
Ultimate
Players can now double jump in mid-air after using Octane’s Launch Pad
Players can change direction easily from the double jump.
Revenant
Tactical
Will now cancel:
Pathfinder mid-grapple
Wraith mid-Phase Walk attempt (before Phase Walk activates)
Burglar’s Best Friend will no longer be intercepted by Watton’s Interception Pylon.
Ultimate
Black Market Boutique (ultimate) will now only pick up 1 stack of ammo (rather than 1 stack + the amount that was required to fill whatever partial stack you had in your inventory).
Ultimate Accelerants now give 20% ult charge (up from 17.5%).
Mirage
Tactical
You can now hold the tactical button, and release to auto-control decoys
Decoys will now say lines when shot
Passive
When cloaked, Mirage’s holo emitters will be visible to players that are less than 5 meters away
Skydive
Will now create decoys for the entire squad when skydiving when still diving with your squad.
Gibraltar
Fast Heal granted inside the Dome Shield, slowed down: 25% faster -> 15% faster
Caustic
Enemies can cancel Caustic’s barrel by shooting it before it is fully inflated.
Wattson
The intent of these changes is to create openings where enemies can breach Wattson positions. It is still possible for Wattson players to hold a position with a trophy indefinitely, but that should come at the cost of using Ultimate Accelerants.
Wattson’s Pylons now last for 90 seconds
Wattson can now have up to 3 pylons out at a time
Wattson can stack 2 Ultimate accelerants per inventory slot
Wraith
Increasing Wraith’s tactical cooldown has proven to be ineffective at curbing her exceedingly high win rate and kill rate. These changes are meant to disincentivize Wraith players from using Phase Walk as a “get out of jail free” card, and move it into more of a repositioning and scouting ability.
Phase Walk
Phase Walk now takes 1.25 seconds to enable (was 0.4 seconds). During this time, Wraith will receive a 20% move slow
This does not affect Phase Walk while placing a Phase Portal
While in Phase Walk, Wraith now gets a 30% move speed boost
While in Phase Walk, Wraith can now see other players while in the Void.
Phase Walk now lasts 4 seconds (from 3 seconds)
Phase walk cooldown is now down to 25 (from 35 seconds)
Phase Tunnel
Decreased distance for portal placement by 25%.
Weapons/Loot
Ziplines
A cooldown will be applied to re-grabbing Ziplines without touching the ground
The cooldown will increase with each time a player disconnects and re-grabs the zipline
The cooldown will reset when the player touches the ground
HAVOC Rifle
Greatly increased horizontal recoil in the initial shots of a burst
Decreased magazine size from 32 to 28.
Sentinel
Rechamber time 1.75 -> 1.6
Energize duration 90 -> 120
Quality Of Life
Teammates can now ping a friendly Caustic Trap.
New health bar for when users are in Revenant’s Shadow form.
Map rotation times are now even between Kings Canyon and World’s Edge
Bug Fixes
General
Fixed an issue with some railing not being climbable.
Fixed an issue with being unable to mute squad before the Legend select.
Removed more exploitable spots against Prowlers in Bloodhound TT
Fixed issues with loot spawning in unreachable places in both Kings Canyon and Worlds Edge.
Fixed an issue with players being able to move at walk speed when downed.
Fixed an issue with Prowlers not killing Mirage Decoys in one swipe.
Fixed issues with Ninja controller layout and deathboxes.
Fixed an issue with the “You got a treasure pack” message appearing after each match.
Crypto
Fixed an issue with Crypto’s Drone flying without input if the user started to sprint by use of double tap to sprint option.
Lifeline
Fixed an issue with Lifeline able to drop her care package on a Quest Artifact location, preventing users from picking up the artifact.
Fixed an issue with Lifeline’s Drone getting stuck in the air after collision with an Octane Jump pad.
Loba
Fixed issues with Loba being able to get to out of bounds areas using Burglar’s Best Friend (tactical).
Fixed an issue with Loba’s Burglar’s Best Friend (Tactical) being blocked by invisible collision at the entrance of Firing Range.
Fixed an issue with Loba’s Black Market Boutique (Ultimate) not showing the correct range.
Loba’s Black Market Boutique (Ultimate) now shows correct ammo count for care package weapons.
Fixed an issue with Loba’s tactical not functioning on certain surfaces. You should now be able to recreate the trailer moment!
Loba’s Ult is now refunded if it gets caught between two doors.
Mirage
Fixed an issue with Mirage’s decoy not being able to ping correctly under certain conditions.
Fixed an issue with Mirage Decoys not being able to crouch walk through certain areas.
Fixed an issue with Mirage Decoys playing the fall animation when the player is falling.
Fixed an issue where Mirage can still control his decoy after being silenced by Revenant.
Octane
Fixed an issue with Octane bounce pads deleting other Legends abilities.
Fixed an issue with Octane’s Jump Pads disappearing when other legend’s tactical interacts with it.
Fixed an issue with Octane’s Jump pads falling through the floor on hover tanks
Pathfinder
Fixed an issue with Pathfinder’s Grapple not allowing running if a failed deployed occurred.
Fixed an audio issue with Survey Beacons being too loud when used.
Revenant
Fixed an issue with Revenant’s death totem not being rendered from over 200 meters.
Fixed an issue with Revenant’s audio for his tactical cutting off half way through its playback.
Wraith
Fixed an issue with not being able to heal after getting knocked and going through a Wraith portal
Apple TV+ is one of several new streaming platforms to launch over the past year, alongside HBO Max, Peacock, and Disney+. The service has now released an early trailer for one its big upcoming original shows, the sci-fi series Foundation.
The show is based on the novel series of the same name by Isaac Asimov, the legendary sci-fi author also known for writing I, Robot. The story focuses on the institute of the title, run by a “psychohistorian” known as Hari Seldon, and an attempt to save the Galactic Empire from destruction. The trailer itself looks incredibly impressive, with an epic scale, lavish visual effects, and an intense performance from Jared Harris as Seldon. Check it out below:
Foundation also stars Lee Pace, Lou Llobell, Laura Birn, and Terrence Mann. The showrunner is David S. Goyer, the veteran DC screenwriter whose credits include Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and the show Krypton. Foundation arrives sometime in 2021.
Apple TV+ launched in November 2019. The streaming service was initially made up entirely of original content, but Apple has since started attempting to fill out its catalog. The World War II drama The Greyhound, starring Tom Hanks, was set to hit theaters in June, but will now be released straight to Apple TV+ on July 10. In addition, the company has paid $25 million for a Billie Eilish documentary set to air sometime later this year.
For the last few years, Apple’s iOS updates have mostly happened behind your home screen. The display you see as soon as you unlock your phone as remained largely unchanged, but with iOS 14, announced at WWDC, it’s getting a shake up.
In a way, it’s the most radical redesign of iOS in years, but also not the most innovative one in the grander scheme of the industry. Front and center in iOS 14 are widgets–larger app icons that display more information at a glance, and change up the composition of your home screen drastically.
Apple also announced new features to automatically help group similar applications and sort them into folders, which will also be surfaced in groups when an app theme is searched for. Siri, Apple’s own digital assistant, is also being reworked so that it doesn’t take up the entire screen when dealing with a query. This lets you do more on your display at once than ever before, including new picture-in-picture support (which was introduced on the iPad a few years ago).
iOS 14 home screen
Perhaps one of the biggest changes might be one Apple should’ve introduced years ago. In iOS 14 you’ll finally be able to set your default web browser and mail apps to ones other than Apple’s in-house versions, meaning you can have Gmail or Microsoft Edge open when you tap on links instead.
Apple has not announced a release date for iOS 14, but typically reserves it for launch around September in conjunction with annual iPhone launches. For more on WWCD, check out GameSpot sister site CNET for even more on iPadOS, Apple WatchOS, and MacOS updates.
Microsoft has announced that it is shutting down Mixer, its streaming competitor to the likes of Twitch. The Xbox owners will be transitioning over to Facebook Gaming instead, partnered streamers having the option to be included with the move or return to Twitch. As of July 22, Mixer sites and apps will redirect users to Facebook Gaming.
Mixer, which was known as Beam.io before Microsoft purchased it, struggled to gain the viewership of its competitors since launch. Big streamer acquisitions such as deals with Ninja and Shroud might have initially drawn viewers in, but it’s lacked the mass appeal Microsoft, and Xbox specifically, need leading up to the launch of the Xbox Series X and xCloud, Xbox’s on-demand streaming service.
“Ultimately, the success of Partners and streamers on Mixer is dependent on our ability to scale the service for them as quickly and broadly as possible,” Xbox boss Phil Spencer explained in a post on Xbox Wire. “It became clear that the time needed to grow our own livestreaming community to scale was out of measure with the vision and experiences we want to deliver to gamers now, so we’ve decided to close the operations side of Mixer and help the community transition to a new platform. To better serve our community’s needs, we’re teaming up with Facebook to enable the Mixer community to transition to Facebook Gaming.”
Spencer explained in a statement to The Verge that the decision wasn’t so much about how to recoup a return on investment, but rather what will work for Xbox’s future strategies. “When we think about xCloud and the opportunity to unlock gameplay for 2 billion players, we know it’s going be critically important that our services find large audiences and Facebook clearly gives us that opportunity,” explained Spencer.
To achieve that, Xbox is looking to Facebook Gaming–another alternative to Twitch that has gained far more popularity with Facebook’s wide user base, and has far more reach than Mixer. Spencer says that xCloud will integrate with Facebook Gaming to allow you to launch games from streams you’re watching–a feature Google Stadia advertised before launch, but one that hasn’t yet materialized.
Microsoft says it won’t abandon the Mixer technology entirely, as it will be put to use for Microsoft Teams.
Where Are Ninja, Shroud, And Others Going?
Sources familiar with the deal have informed me that while Facebook did try and negotiate to keep their big partners both Shroud and Ninja opted out. They have received their full payments and as of midnight yesterday were free to engage in talks with other platforms. Game on.
While Mixer partnered streamers are free to transition over to Facebook Gaming, two of Mixer’s biggest acquisitions have reportedly opted not to move there, opening the door for a return to Twitch. Ninja, who left Twitch for a rich exclusive deal at Mixer, wrote in a statement on Twitter, “I love my community and what we built together on Mixer. I have some decisions to make and will be thinking about you all as I make them.” Another Mixer partner, Gothalion, has chosen to stay with Microsoft and make the move to Facebook gaming.
I love my community and what we built together on Mixer. I have some decisions to make and will be thinking about you all as I make them.
Xbox xCloud doesn’t have a release date yet, but is expected to launch later this year alongside the Xbox Series X as Microsoft continues to push into more service-based products. The hardware powering xCloud will also be upgraded in 2021 to support Xbox Series X titles and possibly PC games streaming.
GameSpot has officially kicked off Play For All–a celebration of all things gaming. Join us as we bring you the summer’s hottest news, previews, interviews, features, and videos, as well as raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts and Black Lives Matter with the help of our friends from around the gaming world. Check out the Play For All schedule for more.
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Crossfire X, the Xbox One version of the massively popular PC FPS game Crossfire, has a closed beta right now, with an open beta running this weekend. The open beta begins Thursday, June 25 and runs through Sunday, June 28.
Xbox Insiders (a free program anyone can sign up for) can register to join the closed beta now through June 23 through the Xbox Insider Hub. A limited number of people will be granted access to the closed beta, with the number increasing as it continues.
The beta features three game modes: Spectre Mode, Team Match, and Point Capture. Players who complete a match during the beta will receive the X-B.C. Axe weapon skin when the game launches.
Crossfire X was announced at Microsoft’s Xbox E3 2019 press conference, advertised as launching first on Xbox in 2020. Crossfire is massively popular around the world, with more than 650 million players on PC.
GameSpot has officially kicked off Play For All–a celebration of all things gaming. Join us as we bring you the summer’s hottest news, previews, interviews, features, and videos, as well as raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts and Black Lives Matter with the help of our friends from around the gaming world. Check out the Play For All schedule for more.
Michael Keaton is among the long list of actors to portray a live-action version of Batman, and he’s certainly one of the most beloved to do so. While he’s been away from the role for decades, Keaton may be coming back to play Bruce Wayne once again.
That’s according to a story from The Hollywood Reporter, which states that Keaton is “in talks” to reprise the role for the upcoming movie The Flash. THR also reports that Keaton may appear in “several other DC-oriented film projects” as a mentor, a role similar to Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It seems Batgirl could be one of the films Keaton may show up in.
No further details are shared on Keaton’s role; perhaps The Flash’s time-travel abilities will send him back to a time when Keaton was Batman. Will Flash do him a kindness and bring him the tools to be able to turn his head? Only time will tell.
It’s been nearly three decades since Keaton last played Batman, in 1992’s Batman Returns.
The long-delayed movie The Flash stars Ezra Miller as Barry Allen. As of last year, it will be directed by Andy Muschietti, who also helmed Stephen King’s It and It: Chapter 2.
Joel Schumacher, the director behind films like The Lost Boys and St. Elmo’s Fire and two Batman movies, has died at 80. The news of his passing comes from Variety, which reports he succumbed to a year-long battle with cancer on Monday.
He is likely best-known for his movies about the Caped Crusader, 1995’s Batman Forever and 1997’s Batman & Robin. He took over directing duties from Tim Burton, who helmed Batman and Batman Returns. During his tenure, both Val Kilmer and George Clooney portrayed Bruce Wayne/Batman. Schumacher’s Batman movies leaned heavily on camp, rather than the dark gothic version of the Dark Knight that Burton brought to the screen.
Schumacher didn’t start his filmmaking career as a director. Instead, he first worked as a costume designer after attending Parsons the New School for Design and the Fashion Institute of Technology. His directorial debut was 1981’s The Incredible Shrinking Woman, starring Lily Tomlin and Charles Grodin.
Among the other notable films directed by Schumacher are 8mm, A Time to Kill, The Client, Flatliners, and the 2004 adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera starring Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum. He also directed two episodes of Netflix’s House of Cards. His most recent film was 2011’s Trespass starring Nicole Kidman and Nicolas Cage.
Nintendo is reportedly retreating from the mobile gaming market, and currently has no new mobile games in development.
A Bloomberg report indicates that Nintendo has been underwhelmed by its mobile games’ financial performance, and is now preferring to concentrate on making games for its own Switch console following the huge success of games like Animal Crossing (which contributed to a 12-year high in share price).
Analyst Serkan Toto told Bloomberg that “since the release of Mario Kart Tour in fall 2019, Nintendo’s mobile pipeline is empty”. The analyst added that the huge success of Switch has “reduced the need and the pressure” to create mobile game successes at the company.
Nintendo has previously said that it will now concentrate on its current mobile games, such as Mario Kart Tour and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. The company’s mobile development partner, DeNA, has reportedly also said not to expect new games until the end of the Japanese fiscal year (31st March 2021), implying there’s no Nintendo mobile games coming anytime soon.
Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].
Update: A new report claims that Batman: Arkham studio Rocksteady is indeed the developer behind the Suicide Squad game mentioned in the domain name registrations.
According to Eurogamer, the London studio has been working on the project for years, and the “Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League” domain is potentially the game’s full title, as well as a summation of it’s content.
Eurogamer also says that the domains were registered by WB Interactive, that Gotham Knights does refer to WB Montreal’s long rumoured Batman: Court of Owls game, and that both games will be shown in some respect at the DC Fandome event.
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Original Story: Domain registrations for a game seemingly titled Gotham Knights, and a potential Suicide Squad game have been found online.
ResetEra user DriftingOrbit posted their findings, which include domain registrations for “suicidesquadgame.com”, “suicidesquadkillthejusticeleague.com” and “gothamknightsgame.com.”
The source of the domain registrations isn’t immediately clear but, as pointed out by user JaseC in the same thread, the company listed as the domain registrar is MarkMonitor Inc, which also registered the wbgames.com domain. This lends some credibility to the existence of these games, but it’s nothing concrete.
Previous rumours have alluded to a Suicide Squad game being cancelled at WB Montreal, with recent teases from the studio pointing to a game based on Batman: Court of Owls. Some have taken these domain registrations to mean that WB Montreal’s project is Gotham Knights, and the long-silent Rocksteady (creator of the Batman: Arkham series) have a Suicide Squad game lined up.
DC is holding a digital event called DC FanDome on August 22, where WB Games will be making announcements. Many are already speculating that these games will be revealed or announced at the event.
