During the latest State of Play, PlayStation revealed a new trailer for Subnautica: Below Zero. The trailer details some of the ways the game will benefit from the PS5.
On PS5, Below Zero will play at 4K, though there is the option to change to a performance mode which bumps down the visuals but increases frame rate to 60 frames-per-second. Additionally, Below Zero will support DualSense haptic feedback, informing you of enemies and changes in terrain via the controller’s vibration.
Fans of the original Subnautica also have something to look forward to, as the trailer reveals that those who own the game on PS4 can freely upgrade to the digital PS5 version at no additional cost. The same is true for Below Zero.
Set one year after the events of Subnautica, Below Zero sees you crash onto an icy planet, where you’ll have to scavenge for materials in order to survive. All the while, you’ll be on the trail of the research team that mysteriously disappeared, your sister among them.
Below Zero is currently available for PC via Steam Early Access. On May 14, the game will officially launch, releasing for PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and Switch.
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The Vault of Glass raid will hit Destiny 2 at 10 AM on Saturday, May 22. The raid, which Bungie has teased since last year, is a revamped version of the original Destiny’s first raid, but with its addition to Destiny 2 will come some new additions–including the day one “Contest Mode” that has become standard for Destiny 2 raids.
Bungie announced the exact release for the Vault of Glass on its This Week at Bungie blog. It also detailed what Power level players can expect to be when they take on the raid on the first day. All encounters in the Vault of Glass will be locked at 1300 Power, so players need to be at least that strong to take on the raid in its first 24 hours. Raising your characters’ Power any higher than that, however, won’t help you until Contest Mode ends on May 23.
If you’re not familiar, Contest Mode is a setting for Destiny 2 raids for their first 24 hours to equalize the playing field as Guardians work to be the first in the world to clear the new top-tier activity. The mode locks everyone’s Power at a certain level–in this case, 1300–so that you don’t get an advantage for having more time to play the game than other people. It also means that the difficulty of the raid is the same for everyone for that first day. Once Contest Mode ends, normal level rules apply, so the higher your numbers, the stronger you are.
However, since the Vault of Glass is a revamped version of a returning raid, the race for world’s first clear will be a little different than in years past. With most Destiny 2 raids, figuring out what to do is a big part of the experience–players not only have to survive the very tough activity, they have to figure out how to defeat its enemies and puzzle their way through its environs, and all of that takes a lot of effort and attention. There are no hints for the first run on a raid, which is part of why raids on day one often take hours upon hours to complete.
For Vault of Glass, players will likely mostly be familiar with its ins and outs from the days of the original Destiny. To counter that, there’s an additional step for world’s first racers to tackle. First, they’ll need to complete the raid within the first 24 hours, which will open up a new “Challenge Mode” they’ll have to clear, also within the first 24 hours. Here’s how Bungie detailed it in the blog post:
Clearing Vault of Glass with Contest Mode active is the first step to access the new Challenge Mode in the Director and the Tempo’s Edge Triumph.
Completing Tempo’s Edge, a curated list of Triumphs, in this newly unlocked Challenge Mode, will be how a fireteam crosses the World First finish line and claims their prize.
To enforce the Triumph requirements in the Challenge Mode, your team will wipe if you fail the success conditions during each encounter.
As always, the first team in the world to clear the raid–and in this case, beat the Challenge Mode–will receive a custom championship belt.
The TWAB also detailed a host of changes Bungie is planning for different weapons in the upcoming new Destiny 2 season, which kicks off on May 11. Expect a lot of mostly incremental balance changes to a variety of weapons and their perks in the new season as Bungie addresses some issues and tries to make more weapons viable in more situations. Those adjustments include increasing linear fusion ammo reserves and precision damage, slightly increasing the precision damage of Precision frame auto rifles, and an increase in damage falloff for fusion rifles.
Other changes include making perks such as Dragonfly easier to activate and Unrelenting, which is largely ignored by many players right now, more powerful. Bungie is also looking to make other overlooked perks, like No Distractions, work a little better, which should make more rolls of different guns a little more appealing. A lot of those changes are fairly small, but they will likely affect how a variety of guns feel in combat in the new season. The blog post also details a few potential changes that might come later, such as tweaks to shotguns and fusion rifles, and some adjustment to this season’s excellent Exotic scout rifle, Dead Man’s Tale. Check out the full details in on Bungie’s blog.
In an earnings report, Amazon confirmed that its annual Prime Day event will take place sometime this June. An exact date has yet to be revealed, with CFO Brian Olsavsky saying the company is waiting for a day where “it’ll get more attention.”
According to CNET, Olsavsky said Amazon is thinking of both the customers and the vendors when considering what day in June to hold the online shopping event. Olsavsky noted transportation slowdowns in July and the upcoming Olympics (July 23 to August 8) as possibilities that could impact Prime Day’s usual success.
“We are going to do it on a date where we think it’ll get more attention for our customers, and also for our vendors,” Olsavsky said on a press call.
A company representative told CNET that Amazon is not only excited about Prime Day but will invest in small business partners and ensure employee safety.
“We’re excited for the return of Prime Day and look forward to providing our members with incredible savings, while investing in opportunities for our small business selling partners, and continuing to ensure the safety of our employees,” a company spokesperson said. “We’ll share more details soon and customers can also say, ‘Alex, keep me posted on Prime Day’ to stay informed.”
Since 2015, Amazon Prime Day has been a major shopping event, with the company slashing the prices of thousands of items. Though a date hasn’t been announced yet, the e-commerce blowout typically falls on a Monday and runs for a full two days. Last year, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Prime Day was moved to October 13 and 14. Bringing Prime Day into June this year puts the annual event closer to year’s past; Prime Day usually occurs in July.
Sony delivered on its promise of a Ratchet & Clank-focused State of Play today, showing off tons of new footage and explaining story and gameplay details. Creative director Marcus Smith said that the upcoming Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a new, standalone adventure built from the ground up for the PlayStation 5.
As the trailers have suggested, Ratchet and Clank are separated, leaving the main hero to explore Nefarious City by himself. This city is the seat of power for Dr. Nefarious, who has taken over this other dimension and dubbed himself Emperor Nefarious. Ratchet encounters a resistance group fighting against the Emperor, and as we saw in another recent trailer, meanwhile the new lady lombax Rivet befriends Clank.
The studio said it’s focusing on increasing Ratchet’s mobility, with new tools like wallrunning, a rift tether, and a dash and air-dash. Without Clank in tow, Ratchet will now have a pair of handy rocket boots to hover. Meanwhile, Clank will have his own dimensional puzzles.
We got a lengthy look at gameplay, including some of the gear from the new weapon vendor, Ms. Zircon. Those include the Topiary Sprinkler, which naturally, turns your enemies into shrubs, and the special frag grenade, the Shatterbomb. You can employ Goons-4-Less to hire help as well.
The PS5 DualSense will make for alt-fires with the weaponry, like pulling the trigger partway to fire a single barrel of the Enforcer versus pulling all the way down to fire both barrels at once. Insomniac mentioned that the haptics will help provide feedback on the power of your shots. Both Ratchet and the new character Rivet will share a single inventory of bolts in the weapon shop.
The marquee feature of Rift Apart is the rifts, and we saw plenty of the heroes jumping through different dimensions and even into separate pocket dimensions. And to show off the visuals, this will be the first Ratchet & Clank game to utilize a photo mode.
Finally, Insomniac promised that this Ratchet will be especially accessible with a “slew” of accessibility options, promising more to be revealed soon.
InnerSloth’s Among Us will finally arrive on PS5 and PS4 in 2021 with an exclusive Ratchet & Clank skin, hat, and pet.
Announced during Sony’s latest State of Play, PlayStation owners will soon be able to backstab their friends and become the ultimate imposter.
AMONG US – COMING TO PLAYSTATION
get ready to welcome a whole new crew on board!!
on PS4 and PS5 consoles later this year
exclusive Ratchet & Clank skin, hat, and pet
crossplay and online multiplayer
Among Us on PS4 and PS5 will have crossplay with all other platforms and will feature everything featured in all other versions, including the brand new Airship map.
Among Us is currently available on PC, mobile devices, Nintendo Switch and via Xbox Game Pass for PC. It will also be released on Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One later this year.
The studio wants to grow the team responsibly and focus on caring for its team members instead of growing too quickly to do so. This means it takes a bit longer to test everything to make sure it works on all the platforms Among Us is on and will be on.
During PlayStation’s State of Play livestream, developer Innersloth’s Among Us made a brief appearance to announce that the social deception game will land on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in 2021. An exact release date was not specified, but we do know cross-play and online multiplayer will be supported.
In addition to confirming that Among Us will make its way to PlayStation consoles this year, Innersloth has partnered with Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart developer Insomniac Games to create a PlayStation-exclusive Among Us skin. The skin is based on the signature PlayStation mascot duo, which includes an outfit, hat, and Clank-looking pet.
🌟 AMONG US – COMING TO PLAYSTATION 🌟
get ready to welcome a whole new crew on board!! ✨ on PS4 and PS5 consoles later this year ✨ exclusive Ratchet & Clank skin, hat, and pet ✨ crossplay and online multiplayer
The State of Play livestream contained a few other announcements, such as confirmation that Subnautica: Below Zero will launch on PS4 and PS5 (as well as Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S) on May 14. The bulk of the presentation, however, is centered around Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. Insomniac Games powered through 15-minutes of gameplay, showcasing new world, characters, and abilities.
Pokemon Go is celebrating the release of New Pokemon Snap with a special event from now until May 2. As part of the event, the Painter Pokemon Smeargle will be photobombing snapshots you take more frequently than usual, and you have your first chance to encounter a Shiny Smeargle in the game. This Shiny variant will only be available during the event, however, so if you’re hoping to add it to your collection, here are some tips on how to catch Shiny Smeargle.
How To Catch Shiny Smeargle
Unlike most other Pokemon in the game, Smeargle can’t be encountered as a wild spawn. Rather, the Painter Pokemon will occasionally make a surprise appearance in snapshots you take. If you happen to see Smeargle photobombing one of your pictures, you’ll then spot the Pokemon on the map, giving you a chance to capture it.
Smeargle and other Pokemon featured during the New Pokemon Snap event
As part of the New Pokemon Snap event, Smeargle is appearing in snapshots more frequently than usual, so you should have an easier time of encountering one. However, Niantic notes that Smeargle will “only appear in snapshots a limited number of times,” so you have a set number of chances to encounter a Shiny variant. Shiny Smeargle will also stop appearing in the game once the New Pokemon Snap event ends, but Niantic teases that it may return again in the future.
To take a snapshot, simply open your item bag and tap on the camera. After that, choose a Pokemon you’d like to photograph and take a few snapshots. If Smeargle appears in any of the pictures you’ve taken, you’ll see the Pokemon in the wild when you back out to the world map. Since there’s no guaranteed way to make a Shiny Pokemon appear, you’ll just need to take as many snapshots as you can during the event and hope you come across a Shiny Smeargle.
The New Pokemon Snap event runs until 8 PM local time on May 2, so you have until then to find and catch a Shiny Smeargle. You can read more about the event on the official Pokemon Go blog.
