Red Dead Redemption 2 Boasts Huge Launch, But GTA 5 Beats It

It seemed likely that Red Dead Redemption 2 would be a hit, but Rockstar claims it has surpassed even lofty expectations. The company announced that it achieved $725 million during its opening weekend, making it one of the biggest launches of all time–not just in video games, but in terms of all entertainment.

In the announcement, Rockstar boasted that this is the “single biggest opening weekend in the history of entertainment,” outpacing movies like Avengers: Infinity War which made $257 million in its opening weekend. (Of course, movie tickets cost significantly less than a new game at $60-100.)

This puts it in second-place for sales in its first three days to another Rockstar game, Grand Theft Auto V, which achieved $1 billion. But since those first three days started on a Tuesday, it isn’t an opening weekend, which is the spin Rockstar is using to boast about Red Dead. Take-Two previously said it expected Red Dead to fall short of GTA5 sales. Other achievements from the big launch include several records for digital sales on PlayStation Network: the most pre-orders, biggest day-one full game sales, and most sales in the first three days.

If you’re one of those millions who picked up Red Dead 2 already, check out our tips for beginners and read all about what to do with your legendary bear pelt. If you’re still on the fence or deciding on a platform, read up on which console performs better, and check out GameSpot’s Red Dead Redemption 2 review. “Red Dead Redemption 2 is an excellent prequel, but it’s also an emotional, thought-provoking story in its own right, and it’s a world that is hard to leave when it’s done,” wrote critic Kallie Plagge.

Free Xbox One Games With Gold For November Announced

As October draws to a close, Microsoft has announced the free Games with Gold for November 2018. These games will be available to download at no cost for Xbox One and Xbox 360 owners with a subscription to Xbox Live Gold. The titles in question are the Xbox One games Battlefield 1 and Race the Sun, as well as the backwards-compatible Xbox 360 games Assassin’s Creed and Dante’s Inferno. That’s $85 worth of games–not bad.

November’s headliner is Battlefield 1, a 2016 game that brings players back to the first World War. Its campaign is a series of single-player missions that tell stories across numerous real-world battles and locations. As is traditional for the franchise, the multiplayer mode is mostly composed of sprawling maps, with players battling using era-appropriate weapons and vehicles. Battlefield 1 will be free the whole month of November. And today’s the last day, but you can get all of the multiplayer DLC by grabbing the Premium Pass for free.

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Race the Sun–free November 15-December 16–is a much simpler game, but it’s likely to get you in the “just one more try” mindset. In it, you pilot a futuristic plane that hurtles ever forward as the sun sets in the distance. Your job is to avoid the many obstacles in your way and get as many speed boosts as possible. Each run ends either when you crash or the sun sets.

You’ll be able to see how far Assassin’s Creed has come over its 11-year history if you download the first installment between November 1-15. Finally, Dante’s Inferno plays a lot like the older God of War games, and it has you descend into hell to rescue your beloved Beatrice from the devil. It’s available for free November 16-30.

If you hurry, you still have time to download October’s Games with Gold if you haven’t done so already. Xbox One owners can grab Overcooked and the Xbox 360 game Hitman: Blood Money. The action-RPG Victor Vran is also available until November 15.

November 2018 Games with Gold

Xbox One

  • Battlefield 1 (November 1-30)
  • Race the Sun (November 16-December 15)

Xbox 360

  • Assassin’s Creed (November 1-15)
  • Dante’s Inferno (November 16-30)

The Week’s Best Xbox One Digital Game Deals

It’s a new week, which means the Microsoft Store has a fresh set of deals on digital Xbox One and Xbox 360 games. This week’s selection isn’t all that large, but that doesn’t mean you won’t find anything worth picking up. And as usual, you’ll need an Xbox Live Gold subscription to take advantage of some of the deals below. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights of this week’s sale.

The acclaimed RPG Divinity: Original Sin 2 is on sale this week for $45. We gave it a score of 10/10 in our review. Brett Todd wrote, “From lonely farmhouses through pitched battles with gods in far-flung dimensions, Divinity: Original Sin II is one of the most captivating role-playing games ever made in both its original and Definitive incarnations, with the latter proving that even the most complicated role-players can be ported successfully to gamepad-limited consoles.”

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If board games are more your speed, Ubisoft has discounted a number of its offerings this week on Xbox One. You can grab the world-conquering game of Risk for $6, the card game Uno for $4, or Monopoly Family Fun Pack for $8. The Monopoly bundle comes with three versions of the game, including a traditional one with an animated board, one that lets you create your own board, and a fast-paced card game variant.

Racing fans can pick up MotoGP 18 for $30 or the unique team-based racer Onrush for $18. Dirt 4 also got a big price cut, bringing it down to $15. Anyone who fondly remembers the NES and SNES era can grab the shoot-’em-up The Mummy Demastered for $14 or the gorgeous platformer Owlboy for $18. And if whipping baddies with your hair sounds like an enjoyable way to pass the time, Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse is on sale for $16.

You can find more of our picks below, or head over to the Microsoft Store’s deals page to see the complete list of this week’s discounts.

New iPad Pro Announced at Apple Event

Apple announced a new iPad Pro at the Apple event Tuesday morning in Brooklyn, NY.

The new iPad Pro offers the same LCD screen that is on the newly released iPhone XR – the Liquid Retina Display.

The display has been bumped up to an 11″ screen, as well as offering another 12.9″ option. The screen now stretches from edge-to-edge and from top-to-bottom. Corners on the display are rounded as well.

The iPad Pro holds an A12 X Bionic chip and is 90% faster. It is also 5.9 mm thin –15% thinner than before and approximately 25% less volume.

Face ID is also a feature on the new iPad Pro, offering security for owners and almost instant unlocking of the iPad.

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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Gets Big Nintendo Direct This Week

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is likely to be the last triple-A game release of the year, thanks to a December release, but there’s still plenty we don’t know: the full roster, the mysterious final mode, the mystery of Waluigi’s absence, etc. At least some of those questions may be answered this week, with a new Nintendo Direct revolving around the game. It will take place Thursday, November 1 at 7 AM PT / 10 AM ET.

Judging by the tweet promoting the presentation, this looks to be a big one. It will be 40 minutes long, and then be followed by a Nintendo Treehouse: Live presentation. By comparison the last Smash-focused Nintendo Direct was just over 25 minutes, and it revealed the Castlevania stages and characters, Chrom and Dark Samus, Isabelle, and King K. Rool. The Nintendo Direct at E3 was roughly 40 minutes, and it was about a wider spate of games than just Smash.

So what could such a long, Smash-focused Direct bring? It’s a good bet we’ll see more fighters revealed, possibly even the entire roster. Director Masahiro Sakurai also conspicuously teased a mysterious final mode that’s important enough to be in the main menu. Revealing an all-new mode for Smash Bros. that stands alongside the usual competitive modes could justify a longer presentation as well.

This will be the last Nintendo Direct for Smash Bros. Ultimate, so it’s likely to tell us all we’ll know before release. The game comes out on December 7.

Apple Announces New MacBook Air With Retina Display

Apple announced a new MacBook Air during its special live event in New York City.

The Retina-display on the MacBook Air measures 13.3-inches and has a resolution of “over 4 million pixels.” The bezel on the screen of the new MacBook Air is also improved, slimmed down to barely-there proportions. The new Air has “17 percent less volume” than the previous MacBook Air, weighing 2.75 pounds.

The processor is an eighth-generation Intel processor with onboard graphics and memory capabilities topping out at only 16GB of RAM. Secondary memory by way of SSD capacity has also been improved over the previous version, topping out at 1.5TB.

Preorders begin today, starting at $1199. The Air comes out next week.

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Apple Announces New Mac Mini

Apple announced a new Mac Mini at the Apple event on Tuesday, which is the biggest update the mini has ever received.

The cores have been updated with quad and 6-core processors with turbo boosts up to 4.6GHZ. There is now up to 64GB of memory, and all-flash storage options.

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The new Mac Mini is five times faster than its predecessor and has four Thunderbolt 3 ports, two USB-A, HDMI video, audio, and Ethernet ports up to 10Gbps.

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Updated: Save $100 on an Xbox One X With Red Dead Redemption 2

If you buy something through this post, IGN may get a share of the sale. For more, read our Terms of Use.

The Xbox One might have stumbled a bit out of the gate, but the Xbox One S and Xbox One X have made up for lost ground by offering features not found in competitors, as well as some of the consistently best deals on a new console. Apart from playing Xbox One, many Xbox 360, and even some original Xbox games, both consoles also play 4K Blu-rays. If you’re looking for the best deals on an Xbox One X or Xbox One S, there are plenty of great chances to save on a new console or bundle.

Xbox One X Red Dead Redemption Bundle Deal Starting at $459

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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Nintendo Direct Announced

Nintendo has announced that there will be a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Direct and a Nintendo Treehouse: Live Presentation on Thursday, November 1 at 7am PT/10am ET/2pm BST.

Revealed on Nintendo’s Twitter, the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Nintendo Direct will contain “roughly 40 minutes of new information” and will be the final Direct before the launch of the latest Smash Bros. on December 7, 2018.

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Battlefield V Won’t Include Microtransactions at Launch

Battlefield V won’t include microtransactions at launch, EA DICE has announced. Microtransactions will be added post-launch using a paid in-game currency called Battlefield Currency, but DICE promises they will only be used for cosmetic items.

“We want players to get hands-on experience with their Company

, the progression system, and earning Company Coin before introducing premium currency,” DICE said. “Balanced rock-paper-scissors gameplay has always been the foundation of the Battlefield series, and our belief is that real-world money should not enable pay-to-win or pay-for-power.”

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