Halo: The Master Chief Collection received a playlist update on July 14 that brought back the Gun Game-style Escalation Slayer mode and removed a fan-favorite, Grifball.
In Escalation Slayer, you get a new weapon each time you get a kill. The fast-paced, frenetic mode is playable in Halo: Reach, Halo 2: Anniversary, and Halo 4 inside MCC. There is a dedicated playlist for it accessible through the match composer so you can play it 24/7 if you want.
As for Grifball, the popular mode involving huge hammers is now out of rotation. This is nothing out of the ordinary, as developer 343 regularly updates MCC’s playlists.
The fight to regulate loot boxes in games is still ongoing throughout the world, and one of the latest people to jump in is an Australian member of Parliament. Andrew Wilkie, an MP from Tasmania in the lower house of the Australian legislature, is planning on introducing a bill to ban loot boxes for minors.
First reported by the Daily Telegraph and then by Kotaku, Wilkie has said that loot boxes should be considered gambling and thus the country needs to prohibit companies from targeting kids with them. While the bill’s text hasn’t been shared yet, Wilkie suggests that the legislation will use the Australian games rating system to regulate loot boxes.
In essence, the bill would force any game featuring loot boxes to be automatically rated R18+ (the equivalent of Mature in the United States). However, unlike the ESRB ratings in the U.S., the Australian ratings board is a government agency backed by law. An R18+ game cannot legally be sold to or bought by minors, which is how Wilkie’s bill would be enforced. In comments to the Daily Telegraph, Wilkie explained that he viewed the possibility of “grooming” children for gambling as sufficiently important to require legislation.
“It’s not clear if that’s what game companies design but it’s self-evident that they have that effect,” he argued. “To allow very young children to pay cash for a randomized event that may or may not reward them, that would meet any definition of gambling.”
As it’s in its very earliest days, there is no sign yet if Wilkie’s bill will garner widespread support in Australia’s Parliament. What is clear, though, is that there is increasing attention in many governing bodies toward loot boxes throughout the world. In addition to Australia, Brazil has just recently begun an inquiry into whether or not a prohibition on loot boxes is warranted, while some countries like Belgium have already banned them.
Dirt 5 came out back in late 2020, but a big update will bring new life to the game, especially the PS5 version. According to a post on the PlayStation Blog, the upcoming July 20 update will improve the game’s DualSense integration, with adaptive trigger support and full haptics that can simulate the clunk of a gear change, as well as the feel of different traction on discrete surfaces.
The update will also bring a ton of new content to the game, including weekly challenges and creator rewards in Dirt 5’s Playgrounds mode, five new Trophies, two new circuits, and 27 new events. Additionally, it will improve the game’s 3D audio integration on PS5, to really enhance your immersion as you race around each track.
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It’s important to note that the 27 new events and four new cars does require the Amplified/Year One Edition, or a purchase through the PS Store. However, all of the other content is free to all players, so there’s something new for everyone regardless.
In GameSpot’s Dirt 5 review, critic Richard Wakeling praised the game’s arcade sensibilities and large amount of content, but faulted its handling model as lacking depth.
“Dirt 5 doesn’t quite stick the landing due to its simplistic handling model, but there’s still plenty of fun to be had when racing door to door in an excessive snowstorm or throwing a Porsche 911 R-GT down the side of a mountain in a frenetic race to the bottom,” he wrote. “It doesn’t reach the heights of Dirt 2, but that game’s influence is keenly felt in Dirt 5. If the series continues along this path, it won’t be long until it’s soaring high again.”
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl’s debut trailer showed beloved cartoon characters like SpongeBob, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Reptar, and Danny Phantom all duking it out in developer Ludosity’s Super Smash Bros.-like, but a piece of leaked cover art seems to imply even more characters are on the horizon, including Korra from Avatar: The Last Airbender sequel series The Legend of Korra.
Cover art for Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl that appeared on Target’s website, and has since been removed, clearly shows a silhouette for Korra, as well as additional, yet-to-be announced characters like CatDog, Ren, Stimpy, and, possibly, Aang. Confirmed characters like SpongeBob’s Patrick Star, Oblina from Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, and others also appear on the leaked cover art.
The artwork was first spotted by Twitter user El Blitzy (via Kotaku). Target has since replaced the cover art with a now silhouette-less version that only includes the game’s logo.
Fans will have to wait for official confirmation to see if any of the characters mentioned above do make their way into the game, but it certainly would be strange for a Nickelodeon fighting game to not include any characters from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Korra has been featured in a number of games in the past, including a Legend of Korra action-brawler from PlatinumGames and as a skin in Hi-Rez Studios’ free-to-play MOBA Smite. She’s also appeared in other Nickelodeon games, like the recent Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix and the mobile game Super Brawl Universe, which may give fans a good indication of what characters are likely to make an appearance in Ludosity’s upcoming fighter.
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl will feature rollback netcode, a much-requested fighting game feature that should make for more reliable online matches compared to games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The game is scheduled to release this fall for all major platforms.
EA has confirmed that a Steam listing of FIFA 22 that stated the game will have a one machine limit on PC was a listing mistake.
This confirmation comes by way of Eurogamer, which reached out to EA after fans spotted a line on the FIFA 22 Steam page yesterday that said “one machine activation limit.” As of yesterday, that’s what the Steam listing said but today, that “one machine activation limit” line is gone.
EA said in a statement to Eurogamer that there is, in fact, no such activation limit on PC.
“We can confirm there is not a one machine limit for FIFA 22 on PC via Steam,” the statement reads. “This was listed incorrectly and the limitation has now been removed. We apologise for the confusion and thank our community for noticing the error.”
It seems this was not the kind of situation where a limit was in place only to be removed following fan backlash but rather, a simple listing error. It’s been fixed and now FIFA 22 players no longer need to worry about such a limit when the game hits PC and consoles on October 1.
FIFA 22 was announced over the weekend and it was revealed that Paris Saint-Germain’s striker Kylian Mbappé will be the cover star. The FIFA 22 announcement came with the reveal of what EA has dubbed HyperMotion Technology, which the company says marks a “revolution in football gameplay.”
Alongside HyperMotion Tech, FIFA 22 will feature the return of many fan-favorite modes like Career Mode, VOLTA FOOTBALL, Pro Clubs, and of course, FIFA Ultmate Teams. The game will feature over 17,000 players across 700 teams in more than 90 stadiums and 30 leagues.
Remember LG showing off a high-concept prototype of a rollable OLED at CES a few years ago? Well, it’s finally getting a wide consumer release in the United States–but it’ll cost you a pretty penny. For the privilege of owning one of the most unique TV sets on the market, you’ll have to shell out $100,000.
So what do you get for the price of a high-end Tesla? LG’s Signature OLED R display is a 65-inch 4K smart TV that has the bells and whistles you’d expect, like support for 120 Hz refresh rates, HDR, low-latency modes, a variable refresh rate mode, and four HDMI 2.1 ports. It’s also compatible with a bunch of third-party services like Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, Apple Airplay 2, and Apple Homekit. And, of course, the real reason why the display is so expensive is that it can roll down into its base, disappearing from view.
The TV has technically been buyable in the U.S. previous to this release. However, LG never published a price for it and required potential customers to call into a sales representative in order to place an order.
That somewhat awkward process will soon be a thing of the past, as LG states that anyone will be able to place a preorder starting in August at the company’s store page. If $100k is (understandably) outside your price range, LG has a host of other, more price-friendly OLED TVs for sale. You can check out GameSpot’s picks for the best of these displays for PS5 and Xbox Series X gaming here; just don’t expect any of them to do cool tricks like rolling up.
WizKids has been taking recognizable items and characters from the world of Dungeons & Dragons and bringing them to life in collectible form. Earlier this year, WizKids debuted the Hand and Eye of Vecna–familiar magical items from D&D. Now, WizKids is making collectibles of Efreeti and the Wand of Orcus.
First is an infamous character familiar to Advanced D&D players, a statue of Efreeti. Modeled after its appearance on the Dungeon’s Master guide, the statue stands at 12 inches tall and features a pose ripped from the cover and brought into your home. Check out some image renderings below, and obviously, this may not be what the final product looks like when it arrives this November for $250.
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“It’s a really good ‘Goldilocks’ size for a statue like this–large enough to be well-detailed and have presence on a display shelf, but not so big that it’s hard to find a home for,” explained WizKids creative producer Mat Smith. “Matching the style of the artwork and how the anatomy was depicted did offer some interesting challenges.”
What makes this such an important statue for D&D collectors is the connection to the past. “[It’s] nostalgia for that first hardback DMG and the artwork really lending itself to this sort of statue–a powerful central figure that can stand on its own (literally and figuratively),” explained Smith. “Even though the cover depicts an encounter between the Efreeti and three heroes, it really focuses on that giant, fiery boss monster.”
That’s not the only collectible WizKids has releasing this fall. The Wand of Orcus is getting a life-sized replica, which you can hang on your wall, point at your friends, etc. Arriving in October, the wand will cost $150, and you can check out some rendered images below.
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The Wand of Orcus has had various designs, but picking which one to use was relatively easy. “We looked at all the incarnations of the Wand throughout the years, but ultimately settled on creating its most-current form–the one wielded by the 5e depiction of Orcus,” explained Smith. “In addition to being the ‘official’ version of the Wand, this design also lent itself to a wall-mounted display, which allowed us to create it at full size (scaled from Demon Lord to human-sized).”
Smith said the team wanted to bring a sense of realism to the artifact that looks and feels like something you found after a giant battle. And for many D&D enthusiasts, this highly recognizable wand will be a must-have collectible. “You’d be hard-pressed to find a more-impressive start or addition to a trophy collection than a unique artifact torn from the clawed hands of the Demon Lord of Undeath,” Smith said.
The Wand of Orcus arrives this October and the Efreeti arrives in November. Preorders for both items will eventually be available on Amazon and DnDMini. You can also go to your local game shop and preorder from your friendly neighborhood retailer.
It might seem early, but July is when back-to-school sales start to kick into full gear, and whether you’re actually heading to a campus this fall or not, now’s a great time to pick up a new laptop, headphones, or tablet for way less. The Apple back-to-school sale is always one of the biggest promotions that rolls around every summer, and it means you can find some great deals on pricey Apple products right now, from the newest iPad Pro to powerful MacBooks equipped with the M1 chip.
On top of a bunch of general discounts on these products, Apple is throwing in a free pair of AirPods with purchases of select Mac and iPad models (you can also opt to receive AirPods Pro for just 90 bucks). This offer is available for current and newly accepted college students, parents, faculty, and staff. Interestingly, Apple doesn’t ask you to verify student status when taking advantage of this deal online. We’re absolutely not telling you to lie and take advantage of this if you’re not actually in school, but, you know, just observing.
Though the AirPods freebie is a nice perk, you can actually save even more on certain Apple products at Amazon and other stores right now–so if an outright discount is preferred, you’re better off buying elsewhere. Check out some of the best Apple deals available now.
The latest MacBook Pro is $100 cheaper at Amazon than it currently is on Apple.com, and if you’re a Prime member, you’ll get free one-day shipping. At $1,100, this matches its lowest price yet. Equipped with Apple’s new M1 chip that brings huge improvements to speed and CPU performance, the 2020 MacBook Pro is an awesome choice for students, creators, and more. It boasts up to 20 hours of battery life, ultra-fast SSD storage (256GB), and a stunning Retina display with bright LED backlighting. Though you’ll still want to look for an actual gaming laptop if that’s your primary use case, the MacBook Pro remains a great choice for general use.
For the exact same price as the 256GB MacBook Pro, you can pick up the MacBook Air with twice the storage. Also equipped with the M1 chip, the 2020 MacBook Air continues to be the slightly lighter and more portable alternative to the Pro, with an 8-core CPU with five times faster graphics and up to 18 hours of battery life. You’ll save about $50 at Amazon with this particular configuration versus buying at Apple, though the MacBook Air is also eligible for free AirPods.
When it comes to the new 2021 iPad Pro, we’re seeing the same price at Apple as Amazon: $999. Of course, Apple’s AirPods freebie makes buying direct a better deal in this case, but if you don’t qualify or already own AirPods, Amazon’s deal is a good option too. The 2021 iPad Pro also features the same M1 chip present in Apple’s MacBooks, delivering enhanced speed, graphics, and an all-day battery. Its 12.9-inch liquid Retina display makes it a particularly great choice for art and production work, but students and those who subscribe to Apple Arcade will reap the benefits here as well.
Apple’s new premium headphones are still ridiculously expensive, but this is the cheapest they’ve ever been and they make a great all-around pair for work, gaming, and listening to music/podcasts. With up to 20 hours of listening time, the AirPods Max feature active noise canceling (and a transparency mode for when you need to let outside noise in), spatial audio, a comfortable knit-mesh canopy with memory foam ear cushions, and overall impressive sound and build quality, according to CNET’s AirPods Max review. If you’re willing to shell out for a premium pair and are already a dedicated Apple user, this deal could be worth jumping on.
The Apple Watch Series 6 is currently one of the best smart watches you can buy, and right now it’s $80 off at Amazon. For loyal Apple users, fitness-minded folks, and people who are always on the go, it’s a great accessory to have on your wrist, letting you track your workouts, monitor your sleep, measure your blood oxygen levels, and even take calls and reply to texts.
If you’re not looking to spend nearly $500 on the AirPods Max, there’s a more affordable alternative that’s a full $150 cheaper than its list price today at Walmart. Available in multiple colors, the wireless Beats Solo Pro are active noise-canceling headphones with an on-ear fit and Bluetooth connectivity. With up to 22 hours of listening time (and 40 hours without ANC), the Beats Solo Pro are a reliable option at a great price if you prefer the on-ear design.
Not looking to take advantage of Apple’s back-to-school offer? The AirPods Pro usually have some kind of discount these days, and $197 is a fairly common price for them at Amazon. However, it’s extremely rare to see them drop further outside of Prime Day and Black Friday, and if you’re an iPhone user, you’ll probably want to get your hands on these at some point or another. The AirPods Pro deliver active noise canceling (with a transparency mode), three tip sizes for customizing your fit, Siri voice control, and more than 24 hours of battery life with the included case.
Following indications that the cracked version of Resident Evil Village on PC was offering players a better experience than paying customers, a report into the issue has proved that the removal of DRM from the game drastically improves overall performance.
Digital Foundry conducted tests on both the retail and cracked versions of Capcom’s latest sequel, coming away with the conclusion that the game’s anti-piracy features are currently behind the poor performance of the game on PC. Since launch, Resident Evil Village has exhibited issues with frametimes, causing large stutters during normal gameplay sequences such as shooting. The issues are worse in certain scenarios, such as the early encounter with Lady Dimitrescu’s daughters, which can plummet the frame rate from the high 100s all the way down to the low 30s.
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The cracked version of the game exhibits none of these issues, and even cleans up many of the minor, but irritating stutters that the game throws at players frequently. According to information gathered by Digital Foundry, the community behind the crack has indicated that this is down to Capcom’s additional work on top of the base that Denuvo, the DRM software implemented in Village, offers. The community members suggest that the game is also making unnecessary calls to your PC for information, as well as redundant Steam API calls as players progress certain achievements.
The crack removes both Denuvo and the reliance on Steam, so what exactly is at fault is a little difficult to pinpoint right now. These are issues that have persisted since the game’s launch in April, however, with Capcom having failed to release a single patch for the game on PC since.
It’s a puzzling scenario given the game’s exceptional performance across consoles, even with the demanding ray tracing suite enabled. But if you’re still playing on PC, this might give you peace of mind that it’s not your hardware at fault.
Square Enix has suggested that it could one day return to the world of Final Fantasy X with a Final Fantasy X-3 sequel. In a new interview with Famitsu as reported by Japanese blog Ryukutya via RPGSite, several key members of Final Fantasy X commented on how the project even has a plot written by Kazushige Nojima, who served as one of the scenario writers on the 2001 game.
“If we are to make X-3, we somehow have a synopsis written by Nojima-san,” character designer Tetsuya Nomura explained. “It’s sleeping right now, but the plot itself does exist.”
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Now Playing: Final Fantasy X and X-2 HD Remaster Switch Gameplay
As RPGSite also noted, a recent audio play could be used as another potential storyline springboard. Taking place a year after the events of Final Fantasy X-2 and focused on two new characters called Chuami and Kurgum, Final Fantasy X Will reunited several of the original game’s voice actors and dealt with the return of Final Fantasy X‘s main antagonist, Sin.
Motomu Toriyama–the designer and writer for Final Fantasy X–added that while the chances of the sequel being made weren’t zero, these projects won’t be made until Final Fantasy VII Remake is completed.
“The probability is not zero. But we are not in a phase where we can talk about it, unless we have finished producing FF7 Remake,” Toriyama said.
