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The latest patch for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, update 5.3, is now live on the game’s test server on PC. It’s the final patch for 2019, and although it’s not adding any new maps or weapons, it’s still an interesting one. The full patch notes outline every little change introduced, but the three most important additions are the new blood effect improvements, the removal of locked crates, and the new addition of cloud saves for your settings.

The blood effect changes mean that locations will now tell you more of a story about the fights that have erupted across them. Shots to the head or neck now have a more distinct visual effect, and blood impact effects on characters now better show off where they’ve been hit, but the most important change is that blood splatter will now show up on walls and floors. If a major battle happened in a building, you might walk in and find it coated in blood after this update.

Cloud saves for settings mean that you’ll easily be able to load up your settings if you switch to a different PC. Settings dependent on hardware can’t be saved, nor language settings, but you can bring most of your preferred settings over to another computer easily now.

Meanwhile, loot crates bought with BP will no longer have the possibility of being locked. This follows on from the developer’s promise to improve crate content, and random crate contents and percentages have been tweaked a bit. You have a 16% chance of getting a Wanderer, Survivor, Biker, Militia, or Raider Crate, a 17% chance of getting a Fall 2018 Crate, and just a 3% chance of a Venetian Crate.

PUBG is currently in season 5, and recently changed how its circle system works to deter camping. The rest of the 5.3 patch notes are below. It should be live on PC soon, and then for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One after that.

GAMEPLAY

Blood Effect Improvements

• Headshots including the neck area produce more distinct visual effect to ensure clear identification of hit
• Blood splatter will be shown on walls and floors if the character is hit near it
  • The size of the blood splash is unified across all color settings
• Blood impacts on characters will now provide a more precise visual representation of which body parts have been hit

Vending Machine

• Reduced the maximum number of uses per Vending Machine from 15 to 10

SETTINGS

Cloud Saving

• Settings now can be saved to the cloud in the settings screen
• Saved settings can be loaded in the settings screen when needed
  • This also allows players to load their account settings even when playing on a new PC
• Settings that are dependent on hardware cannot be saved
  • GRAPHICS: All settings in the GRAPHICS category except “Language Setting”
  • GAMEPLAY: “Inventory Character Render” setting cannot be saved
• The Cloud Saving option can be found at the bottom right of the SETTINGS screen
• Test Server settings will only be saved on to the test server account

WEAPON MASTERY

Favorite Weapon

• Players can now choose their “favorite weapon” in the Mastery tab
• The weapon of choice will show up as the first weapon stat in your PUBG ID, regardless of whether the weapon has the highest level or not
• A grey star will show up when player’s mouse is hovered over it. Clicking the star will favorite the weapon
• A gold star will show up next to a chosen weapon when a player favorites it
• Players can only favorite individual weapons and not categories
• There can only be one favorite. That’s just logical
• The favorite weapon will always show up at the top of players’ list, even when the sorting feature is used

UI/UX

Lobby Theme

• Lobby background will change to a HAPPY HOLIDAYS theme once the patch is updated on live servers
• To set the winter mood, the lobby music has also been changed

Weapon HUD Improvement

• Heal and acceleration icons on the weapon HUD will now flash when activated

CUSTOM MATCH

Esports Mode

• Boats and Aquarails now have fixed spawn locations and numbers on Sanhok

Observing UI Improvement

• Enabled rear camera flip (180 degrees flip) by pressing Ctrl+R key during freecam perspective
• Enabled adjusting camera movement speed during observing
  • Speed up: =
  • Speed down: –
• Bullet tracer setting indicator will now be shown on the bottom left of the UI

REPLAY

• Old replays cannot be played due to a version update to the replay system.

WORLD

• All PGC signs and banners on Miramar have been removed

SURVIVOR PASS: BADLANDS

• The current season of both the Survivor Pass and Survival Title System will end on January 14 PDT
  • Starting January 1st, there will be a countdown on the Survivor Pass lobby banner notifying players of the pass end date
  • A pop-up message will be displayed to users purchasing Premium Pass and Level-up items, alerting them of the time left until pass end
• Premium Pass and Level-up items can be purchased until the Pass period ends

SKINS & ITEMS

The following items will be added to the Store after Update 5.3 hits live servers:

• Added 2 BattleStat weapon skins (QBU and P1911)
• Added 2 BattleStat weapon skins (SKS and P92)
  • Purchasable with BP
• Added 3 Factory Worker skins
• Added 4 Punk Destruction skins

Crates

• Crates requiring keys to unlock are no-longer included in the pool of Random Crates purchasable with BP
• Random Crate contents and percentages have been adjusted as shown below:

Wanderer, Survivor, Biker, Militia, or Raider Crate: 16%

Fall 2018 Crate: 17%

Venetian Crate: 3%

BUG FIXES

Gameplay

• Fixed an issue where the reticle would shake when ADS with a 6x Scope equipped
• Fixed an issue where character movement would stutter when firing the DBS in certain situations
• Fixed an issue where BRDM collision damage was higher than intended
• Fixed an issue where a disconnected player could float when displaced by a prone character

World

• Mitigated an issue which causes players to be bumped into the air when moving close to certain objects

Custom Match

• Fixed an issue while observing and using the x-ray feature where the character outline is not visible after a player is revived
• Fixed an issue where healing items would not show while spectating in free cam when in observer mode

UI/UX

• Fixed an issue where only the ammo of one weapon is updated in the inventory when holding more than one weapon using the same ammo type
• Fixed an issue where the character size would show incorrectly in lobby when moving to lobby after seeing preview of PGC 2019 bundle
• Fixed an issue where character rendering is done late when changing gender while creating a character
• Fixed an issue where item equipped icon and new item notification icon would appear at the same location in CUSTOMIZE menu

More than a year before stories of Harvey Weinstein’s rampant sexual misconduct rocked Hollywood, Fox News was rattled by allegations that the conservative channel’s CEO Roger Ailes had sexually harassed female employees, including former Fox & Friends co-host Gretchen Carlson and The Kelly File anchor Megyn Kelly. Now, the docudrama Bombshell explores this turbulent time that rocked the news industry in the build-up to the 2016 presidential election. The Big Short screenwriter Charles Randolph ushers audiences behind the scenes of Fox News, into the offices and homes of Roger Ailes and his accusers. But how deep does this exploration of workplace sexism go? And who is this movie really for?

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Command & Conquer Remastered, which was first teased in 2018 and announced officially this year, will bring back the original Command & Conquer (as well as Red Alert) for a new audience. But the original game is almost 25 years old, and EA found that they did not have all the assets from the original title, meaning that some voice acting has been re-recorded by the original actor.

In the recording below, you can hear Kia Huntzinger returning to the role of EVA, the game’s announcer, explaining what’s happening during the match. Huntzinger is re-recording the dialog to match up to what players heard in the original game.

In a blog post on EA’s website, producer Jim Vessella has explained the approach to remastering the EVA recordings. “Kia has brought an authenticity to the project which just couldn’t be achieved in any other way,” he writes. “Kia wanted to do this for the fans and approached the recording full of passion and eagerness.” Frank Klepacki, the original game’s composer, recalls that Huntzinger–who worked in the Westwood Studios office–was brought in to record because he voice felt like a good fit. “She was excited to give it a shot, and the original voice session was recorded in a padded closet,” he recalls.

“Kia wanted to do this for the fans and approached the recording full of passion and eagerness,” Vessella writes. “We’re forever thankful to Kia for contributing to this remaster journey, and hope everyone in the C&C community will appreciate her performance.” The post also clarifies that Martin Alper’s performance as the “Announcer” in Red Alert will be maintained, as Alper has passed away and replacing him would not feel right.

The most recent Command & Conquer game was the mobile title Command & Conquer Rivals. EA has promised that Remastered, which does not have a release date yet, will not feature microtransactions.

Gears 5 has released its Operation 2: Free For All DLC as scheduled, bringing a load of new changes and additions to the game. Now that it’s out you can purchase all the goodies as a bundle as with real money or buy individual pieces with in-game currency. But a last-minute bug is keeping it from working exactly as intended.

The expansion’s namesake comes from the new FFA versus mode, in which 14 players battle to reach 30 kills. The Coalition sent word that FFA hit a snag, though, with a visual bug compromising two of the maps–Pit and Nethercutt. As a result the studio is only making one map, Core, available through quickplay for the time being. The maps and mode are planned to join Ranked in January.

Aside from FFA, the update adds an Arcade Blitz mode, and 2v2 Gnashers. It adds a handful of new characters including Lizzie Carmine, Damon Baird, Jermad, and a Locust Drone. A third villain character, Kantus, will join the lineup in early 2020. You can check out the new characters’ ability lists below. Allfathers Arena and Lift were added as Arena maps, and the update includes six new Hives to be dropped throughout the event.

You can pick up an Operation 2 bundle that includes the new characters, Eclipse weapon set, 1000 Iron, and 30 days of boost, for $20. You can also purchase heroes and villains individually for 500 Iron apiece.

Lizzie Carmine

A driver for the COG and member of the iconic Carmine military family, Lizzie is a total badass that never backs down from a fight.

• Horde & Escape Abilities (Tank)
• Ultimate – Summon and pilot a Silverback on the battlefield
• Passive– Enemies that die with your mark reduce the cooldown on your Ultimate
• Versus Arcade Abilities
• Loadout– Lancer, Auto Pistol, Smoke Grenade
• Passive: Taking damage makes you move faster for a brief time.
• Bounty– Multi-kills reward +1 skull

Damon Baird

An original member of Delta Squad, this sarcastic engineer brings humor and support to the battlefield.

• Horde & Escape Abilities (Engineer)
• Ultimate -Reinforce DR-1 – Summon a DR-1 that targets enemies
• Passive– Build new Fortifications at a small discount and move around Fortifications faster
• Versus Arcade Abilities
• Loadout –Enforcer, Snub Pistol, Flashbang
• Passive –Significantly reduced recoil on DeeBee Weapons
• Bounty –Multi-kills reward +1 skull

Locust Drone

Born and bred for combat, the Locust Drone emerges once more to enter the fight.

• Versus Arcade Abilities
• Loadout– Enforcer, Snub, Flashbang
• Passive Ability –Kills reward supply of Active Reload ammo to current weapon
• Bounty– Multi-kills reward +1 skull

Jermad

This Locust sniper hails from the ranks of RAAM’s vicious Blooded Vanguard where he played a key role in the defeat of Sraak.

• Versus Arcade Abilities
• Loadout –Retro Lancer, Snub Pistol, Flashbang
• Passive –Headshot Damage Reduction (except Explosive weapons)
• Bounty –Multi Kills +1 skull (6 second window frame)

From gaming laptops, monitors, headsets, keyboards and mice to gift cards, games, and chairs, these are the best PC gaming and eSports gifts of 2019.

Welcome to Nintendo Voice Chat! The show kicks off this week with a discussion about IGN’s Game of the Year awards, including the winner for best Switch game. Then, hear the crew’s thoughts on the latest Indie World showcase from Nintendo, which gave us a look at a bunch of upcoming Switch games, including Sports Story, Axiom Verge 2, Streets of Rage 4, and much more. In the news, the panel discusses Shovel Knight’s final expansion, the recent talk about MLB The Show, and more. Then, on Question Block, the panel decides if Nintendo should give Kid Icarus another shot.

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On this week’s episode of IGN’s weekly PlayStation show, Podcast Beyond, host Jonathon Dornbush is joined by Brian Altano, Max Scoville, and Ryan McCaffrey to discuss the final PlayStation State of Play of 2019.

The crew tackles the big announcements like Resident Evil 3, Predator: Hunting Grounds’ release date, Ghost of Tsushima’s teaser for a Game Awards trailer, and more. Plus the cast also discusses MLB: The Show’s multiplatform future, Max’s hands-on time with Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, and much more.

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EA has announced a new update for Anthem, which also launches a brand-new winter-themed season called Icetide. The update adds several new pieces of content to Anthem, including environmental changes, world events, challenges, cosmetics, and ways to unlock legendary gear.

“Shaper devices have brought localized ice storms into Bastion, bringing excitement with every glittering snowflake across the region,” EA writes in the update’s full patch notes. “Ice is rare here, but when it arrives, people know that Icetide celebrations will soon follow. Holiday lights shine throughout Fort Tarsis, their bright colors sparkling on blankets of snow.”

Throughout Icetide, new seasonal strongholds will unlock each week–presenting ways of acquiring large amounts of crystals and unlocking Icetide’s seasonal in-game items. Icetide also adds new freeplay time trials, a legendary world event, challenges, cosmetic items, and collectibles.

If you’re hoping to expand your arsenal and unlock more legendary gear, the update makes it easier to do so. Completing daily and weekly challenges will now earn you guardian tokens, which can be offered in tribute at one of the Tombs of the Legionnaires to automatically get a random legendary item that has +5 gear score. The type of item you earn from each tomb is listed below. Additionally, in Grandmaster 3, all legendary loot drops will now begin with a +5 gear score.

New Tomb Of Legionnaires Offerings

• Tomb of Artinia: Legendary Weapons
• Tomb of Cariff: Legendary Gear
• Tomb of Yvenia: Legendary Melee Weapons and Javelin-Specific Components
• Tomb of Gawnes: Legendary Support Gear and Universal Components

The remainder of the update is bug fixes, with most geared towards improving Anthem’s overall stability. Some of the bug fixes are designed to better balance Anthem as well, such as a fix for the issue that was causing the Rainmaker to occasionally deal out damage almost 200% stronger than intended. If you were relying on certain bugs to help you overcome troublesome bosses, you may want to check the patch notes and see whether that option is still available to the build you’re using.

Anthem Update 1.6 Patch Notes

New Features

• Seasonal Themed Strongholds – Each week a different featured seasonal Stronghold will unlock for players—now including score leaderboards. If you’re up to the challenge, compete with other Freelancers for the highest score. Visit the Seasonal Store to exchange your Crystal for War Chests.
• Freeplay Time Trials – Have you ever wanted to put your javelin flight and navigation skills to the test? Join Freeplay, and race through eight time trials that can be found in Bastion. Try to beat our Gold times!
• New Legendary World Event: Icetide Coolant Harvesting – Help the Arcanist harvest precious coolant resources while fighting off the outlaw forces that are trying to steal it from you.
• New Challenges – Explore the Challenges to see vanity rewards! Gain new armor sets, special time trial wraps, and more.
• New Hidden Collectables – Explore the region to find all Festive Wreaths.
• Icetide Cortex Entries – Explore the region to find new story entries to add to your Cortex.
• More Powerful Drops in Grandmaster 3 – All Legendary loot drops on GM3 now drop with +5 Gear Score.
• New Tomb of Legionnaires Offering – New Guardians’ Tokens are granted through daily and weekly challenges. Freelancers can make offerings of a Guardian Token and additional crafting materials within the Tombs of the Legionnaires to gain a random Legendary item. Each tomb grants different items, but all items have a +5 gear score.
• New Seasonal Cosmetic Items – Visit the Featured Store throughout the season for new Icetide-themed cosmetics.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed various crashes to improve stabilization.
• Fixed various texture and lighting scenarios.
• Fixed various art collision issues that allowed players to access unintended areas.
• Fixed various audio issues.
• Fixed multiple breadcrumbing trails appearing in Freeplay. Fast Travel to the Tomb of Legionnaires is now enabled. Map pins have been updated to better communicate the ability to fast travel.
• Added new options to disable various parts of the UI
  • These options are visible under Settings -> Interface -> HUD
• Added a tutorial for the self-respawn feature.
  • You can respawn yourself closer to your squadmates by holding down the R3 button
• The Colossus can no longer become stuck in cages within Temple of Scar.
• The Sunken Cell stronghold mission now correctly appears above the Heart of Rage mission in the journal.
• Resolved an issue causing the Forge Menu to not appear while in the Forge Screen.
• Fixed an issue that allowed the Synchronized Frame to trigger without an enemy being hit.
• The Ranger Combo Augment component craft recipe now displays “Impact Combo Damage”.
• Fixed an issue causing Incremental Archives to not spawn as often as expected.
• Fixed an issue preventing the fog wall from vanishing after the objective is completed in Temple of Scar.
• Forge Icons for Barrage, Garroter, and Stampede have been updated to match the default color scheme of the javelin.
• Increased the health of the generators for the Sleeping Titan event.
• Legendary Fortress of Dawn now spawns its chest and finishes appropriately.
• Fixed an issue where Balm of Gavinicus was incorrectly dealing damage on impact.
• Fixed an issue causing Rainmaker to fire more projectiles than intended.

Innovation is so important to the tech world. Whether its a fresh take on an old product, or an exciting new technology that will shape the tech landscape of the coming years, innovation is the reason the best stuff gets made. These are our nominees for the Best Tech Innovation of 2019.

Click through the gallery above or scroll down the page for the full list!

More Game of the Year Awards

• Best Gaming Tech of 2019
• Best PS4 Game of 2019
• Best Xbox Game of 2019

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