Use the Force and/or Money To Reel in All This Fun, Goofy Baby Yoda Merch

3 years 5 months ago

There’s a lot about the first season of Disney+’s The Mandalorian that worked, from the intriguing lore around the bounty hunter himself to the Western-inspired tone and prospect of an actually-compelling, more adult-oriented serialized Star Wars tale. But really, it was Baby Yoda, right? Officially “The Child,” a…

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Andrew Hayward on The Inventory, shared by Gabe Carey to Kotaku

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Are Free-To-Play Games Good Now?

3 years 5 months ago

I don’t remember exactly when I became familiar with “free-to-play” as a specific designation, but I do know that I had no interest in playing the games it applied to. From shoddy MMOs to Facebook distractions, I thought of all free-to-play games were thinly disguised attempts to siphon money from players – all while meeting only the barest possible definition of “game.” The only one I spent considerable time with was Farmville, but that was because I was writing a piece for Game Informer’s May 2010 issue that ended up being about how terrible and predatory Farmville was. After that, I generally wrote off free-to-play games.

Author
Joe Juba

This Fallout 4 Overhaul Mod Transforms The Common Wealth Into A Full-Fledged Horror Game

3 years 5 months ago

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It's Halloween! Well, almost! And while there are a ton of amazing horror games out there, there is one Fallout 4 mod I can't help but to recommend for those wanting a new horror experience in a familiar place. For this week's Mod Corner, we're getting 'spoopy'. 

The Fallout 4 Pilgrim: Dread of the Common Wealth mod is a complete overhaul experience that came out in 2017. It's a mod I've personally used and can't recommend enough. For those that like Fallout 4, this is a great way to jump back in while still being able to experience something new. 

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The mod itself is inspired by the horror film The Witch and it captures that subtle horror and evil immersion perfectly. How overhaul mods work is that it's not a simple retexture, it's a complete shakeup to the game as a whole. This experience changes the weather, it completely revamps the in-game audio, and the lighting? The lighting is more than a little spooky.

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Author
Liana Ruppert

Crucible burned at the stake as Amazon Game Studios turns its focus to New World

3 years 5 months ago

Back in 2016, Amazon Game Studios made a big deal about breaking into the industry when it announced three huge projects that would release over the coming years. Breakaway, Crucible, and New World were all ambitious titles, each drawing on some of the biggest trends in the industry at the time. Unfortunately for Amazon, things have not gone its way. Breakaway was a bust, shutting down in 2018. New World is still on the way, though it's launching later than originally planned.

Then there is Crucible and its odd journey to release and then un-release. The game launched in May of this year, only to go back into beta less than two months later. The plan was to fix what was wrong with the game, but that didn't happen. Instead, it was announced Friday night that Crucible is no more.

Author
CJ Andriessen

Is Nintendo Adopting Apple's iPhone Playbook?

3 years 5 months ago
Welcome back to Game Scoop!, IGN's weekly video game podcast. This week your Omega Cops -- Daemon Hatfield, Sam Claiborn, Justin Davis, and Seth Macy -- are discussing the future of Nintendo consoles. They also cover Super Mario 35, Star Wars Squadrons, The Last of Us Part 2, Rambo in Mortal Kombat, and so much more. Watch the video above or hit the link below to your favorite podcast service. Listen on: Apple Podcasts YouTube Spotify Stitcher   Find previous episodes here!
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Daemon Hatfield

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Star Wars: Squadrons Studio Motive Has Several New Games In The Works

3 years 5 months ago

Earlier this week, an EA Motive dev confirmed that Star Wars: Squadrons would be getting no new additional paid content, but that doesn't mean this studio doesn't have its hands full. In a recent EA blog update, Motive's Patrick Klaus offered a little insight into what's next for this team.

When talking about the new mission for Motive, "To empower players to create, experiment, live, and share their own unique stories," Klaus also spoke a little bit about future plans. Part of living up to that new mission statement is to truly aim to be innovative, an artistic goal that is not without risk. With encouragement for all creative teams, Motive is working on "several" new games that will usher in a new era for this particular studio. 

In addition to Star Wars: Squadrons, we’re also working on several unannounced projects. Innovation is tough, but it’s also exciting and energizing. With our new mission, we're trying a lot of things and testing many ideas which you can’t get attached to, as iteration and experimentation are healthy and a key to finding something great. The team is super talented and we’re all striving to make aspirational games that push the boundaries of what players expect now and into the future.

Author
Liana Ruppert

PS5 Cross-Gen Save Support Is Up To Developers, Sony Confirms

3 years 5 months ago

One of the more confusing aspects of Sony's approach to cross-generation support between the PS4 and upcoming PS5 has been cross-gen saves. Sony has clarified its stance on the matter, stating that it's up to developers to ensure the feature is supported.

In a detailed breakdown of cross-generation features included with the PS5 (such as backwards compatibility for games, accessories, and PSVR), Sony confirmed that players will be able to transfer their saves between the consoles using a LAN connection, Wi-Fi, or the cloud (which requires PlayStation Plus). This confirms that save transfer functionality is inherently supported by the PS5 and its operating system, with a disclaimer from Sony that it is up to individual developers to ensure they support the feature.

"Please note that the ability to transfer game saves between a PS4 version and a PS5 version of the same game is a developer decision and will vary title by title for cross-generational games," the blog post reads.

Continue Reading at GameSpot
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Alessandro Barbosa

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Ghost of Tsushima on PS5 Will Support Up to 60 FPS With Game Boost

3 years 5 months ago

Following today’s details about PS4 backward compatibility on PS5, Sucker Punch revealed an interesting detail about Ghost of Tsushima.

We learn that when using the game on the new console with Boost Mode activated, an extra option will appear allowing frame rates to go up to 60 frames-per-second.

You can check out the announcement below.

Funnily, we also learn that the upcoming update 1.1 will allow players to recruit good Japanese boys via a dedicated charm.

Author
Giuseppe Nelva

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Phasmophobia, Everything You Need to Know About the New Ghost Hunting Game

3 years 5 months ago

If you pay attention to YouTubers and streamers like Markiplier and GassyMexican, you have probably seen them hunting ghosts alone or with their friends in a game called Phasmophobia.

The word Phasmophobia is defined as a fear of ghosts. The game certainly plays on that concept greatly, as it simulates some of the most prominent ghost hunting shows of all time, such as Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures.

The basic gameplay loop involves you going into a location, and looking for evidence of ghosts so that you can sell the location to ghost removers.

As you gather more evidence, the ghosts become increasingly hostile. If you are with friends, you can also stay in the van and simply watch the cameras and cover your friend’s backs.

Phasmophobia is still in early access, but the game still might seem a bit daunting for new players, so here is everything you need to know before you get started.

Author
Brandon Dubin

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Destiny 2’s Armor 2.0 Mod System Is Getting the Improvements It Desperately Needed

3 years 5 months ago

When Destiny 2 launched Armor 2.0, many, including myself, cheered the move as it finally made armor interesting again.

For all of Destiny 2 up until that point, getting good armor was entirely dependent on luck, and even then its impact on your builds was questionable unless you got the absolute godliest of god rolls.

Armor 2.0, when it released alongside Shadowkeep, allowed players to slot in armor perks that they had unlocked. Instead of praying to the RNG gods that you’d get an armor piece that worked within your build, it was much easier now to unlock the mod you wanted/needed to create fun builds.

Many in the hardcore community, however, took issue with a new layer of RNG that was thrown in with armor 2.0, namely, elemental armor pieces.

Certain mods, including crucial weapon finder and reload mods, were tied to specific elements that could only be slotted into matching elemental armor.

Meaning if you have an Arc chest piece, you can’t slot Hand Cannon mods in there as they are assigned to the Void element. So if you had found a powerful stat roll armor, you might get burned if the element wasn’t what you wanted.

While Armor 2.0 was still an improvement over what was there before, this wrinkle was a wet blanket that dampened enthusiasm.

Eventually, Bungie would introduce a system that allowed players to spend materials to change the element of an armor, but this process is expensive and didn’t address the underlying issue.

Author
Ed McGlone

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What Is Monster Hunter Rise?

3 years 5 months ago

Unveiled during a Direct event, Monster Hunter Rise is the next big game in the Monster Hunter franchise coming to Nintendo Switch. Unlike many of the 3DS games, the map is a fluid experience — only one load into the area, no loading between various map sections or chunks. A brief chat with the development team on Zoom allowed us to dig into some of the various aspects of Monster Hunter Rise that make it stand out.

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Author
Daniel Tack

New Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Freebie Available Now For Switch Online Members

3 years 5 months ago

Nintendo is offering another Super Smash Bros. Ultimate freebie for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. Right now, members can claim the Vault Shopper Set 2 bundle, which comes with 3,000 Gold and five tickets. The latter can be wagered during Classic Mode for additional rewards.

To claim the Vault Shopper Set 2 pack, you'll need to open the Switch eShop and select the "Nintendo Switch Online" option from the left sidebar. After you've done that, you'll find the pack listed among the other free offers near the top of the page. Click on the pack and select Download to claim it.

Like previous Smash Bros. freebies, the Vault Shopper Set 2 is only available to those who have an active paid Switch Online membership; you can't claim the pack during a free trial to the service. You can learn more about subscription costs and benefits in our Nintendo Switch Online guide.

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Author
Kevin Knezevic

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Only True Monster Hunter Fans Can Surpass This Monster-Naming Quiz!

3 years 5 months ago

Capcom’s Monster Hunter series has been around for a very long time, and with each new entry comes new monsters. Since there are dozens upon dozens of creatures, we thought it would be fun to put a little quiz together to see if fans can remember all of the names of the monsters.

Of course, this quiz doesn’t feature every single monster from the series (that would be insane), but instead, we chose ten that any hardcore fan should be able to recognize instantly.

Let’s start the quiz and see how big of a fan you are, shall we?

And if you find yourself enjoying this quiz, we have an entire section of the site full of other quizzes. You can find those here. There’s also another Monster Hunter quiz that tests your knowledge of the long-running series.

Author
Greysun Morales

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PS5 Backwards Compatibility: All Confirmed Games To Support Game Boost So Far

3 years 5 months ago

Many questions about how the PlayStation 5 actually works remain unanswered as we quickly approach its November 12 launch date, but Sony has recently detailed the way PS4 backwards compatible games will take advantage of the next-gen console's hardware via Game Boost.

As its name suggests, Game Boost provides benefits for supported PS4 games, including improved frame rates, higher-resolution visuals, and faster load times. Though Sony has not laid out all of the titles that will support this performance increase, some developers are revealing the games that will take advantage of Game Boost. We've rounded up the list of games that use Game Boost, and will continue to update this list as news rolls in.

Ghost of Tsushima

Developer Sucker Punch Productions took to Twitter to confirm that not only is its open-world samurai-RPG Ghost of Tsushima playable day one on PlayStation 5 via backwards compatibility, the game will also get a frame rate increase thanks to Game Boost. Specifically, Ghost of Tsushima will get a 60 FPS option as well as further decreased load times.

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Author
Jeremy Winslow

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New Xbox Series X Commercial "Power Your Dreams" Stars Daniel Kaluuya

3 years 5 months ago

The next generation of gaming arrives next month and both PlayStation and Xbox camps are bringing the hype! Both the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S systems have something unique to offer for next gen, and a new commercial from Team Green aims to take that excitement even higher. 

The Power Your Dreams TV spot features Black Panther's Daniel Kaluuya as a sequence of mortgages kick off. Kaluuya ventures from various worlds that will be playable when the next generation arrives, including Assassin's Creed, Halo, Destiny 2, and more! 

It wouldn't be an Xbox TV spot without some Halo action, including the superhero drop Master Chief does in one scene. Despite Halo Infinite's delay (press F to pay respects), the marketing is still very much a go as the team at 343 Industry continues towards development. While not a launch title, which is what the primary focus of this commercial is about, the Halo-verse is incredibly ingrained in what Xbox is known for, it makes sense to see this IP so prominent in this video. 

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Author
Liana Ruppert