September 2021

The world of Minecraft is rife with danger, whether it be a simple misjudged jump or lethal potion-tossing witches. Your first night in the game is arguably the toughest one to get through, but making it through is more than doable. You need shelter, light, and food to get started; they're like Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, but for Minecraft. Once you have these, you can begin to worry about things like armor, farming, and building a memorable home for yourself. Here's how to survive the first night in Minecraft, step by step.

Punch The Heck Out Of Some Trees

The first thing you need is building material. Namely, some wood. Even just one tree--it doesn't matter what kind--should get you started. Punch the tree with your fist to turn it into wood blocks, which you can use to make stuff that'll help keep you alive. You'll probably start in a Plains or Forest biome, but make sure to check out our guides on Minecraft biomes if you pop up somewhere else!

Though Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a cute and colorful game, its art style belies the tough battles you'll fight as you make your way through it. Bosses and regular enemies alike can pummel Kena with big hits that can quickly take her down, even at easier difficulties. Luckily, there are ways to make yourself more resilient, in the form of special meditation locations scattered throughout the game. Meditate at one of these spots and you'll increase Kena's total health--but only some of these locations are obvious, while many more require you to seek them out.

We've scoured the world of Kena: Bridge of Spirits to find all the meditation locations hidden throughout the game, to help you get your health as high as it can be. Here's where you can find all 11 locations in each of the game world's areas.

More Kena: Bridge Of Spirits Guides:

Lucid Games has been handed the Twisted Metal series and is working on reviving the series with a new game, according to a report from VGC. Early development on the game has already started over at the UK-based studio in Liverpool.

Unnamed sources told VGC that the next Twisted Metal entry is being built around a free-to-play model. This is a response to the studio's previous game, Destruction All-Stars, becoming a PlayStation Plus offering. Additionally, the game is reportedly planned to release alongside a Twisted Metal TV series in 2023.

VentureBeat's Jeff Grub has also corroborated the report, saying that he also heard about Lucid's involvement with the franchise. Rumors were also circulating earlier this month about a new entry.

Destruction All-Stars was originally billed as a launch title for PlayStation 5. However, the game was delayed to February 2021 and was changed to be a free PlayStation Plus game during that month. Those who had already preordered the game were given a refund.

A long list of crude and suggestive emotes will be reworked or removed entirely from World of Warcraft in the game's upcoming Shadowlands patch 9.1.5.

As noted by Wowhead, the game's latest public test realm build reveals emotes like kick, stink, shake, and moan have been removed completely, while other crude emotes like drool, cough, burp, fart, whistle, spit, and moon can no longer be directed at other players. The pounce and groan emotes have been adjusted while directed at another player, but have not been removed.

Patch 9.1.5 will add four new, generally more positive emotes as well. Players will be able to perform huzzah, magnificent, impressed, and wince emotes when the patch eventually arrives.

A potential glitch in Call of Duty: Warzone is allowing players to get underneath the map near the airport. Players underneath the map can shoot up through the map at other players and kill them, making for a game-breaking glitch.

As reported by CharlieIntel, Reddit user MarkC_belfast posted a video showing another player using the glitch. They moved through the airport slowly, tracking another player with a heartbeat sensor, before getting downed and killed by a barrage of bullets from seemingly nowhere. The kill cam revealed that the enemy player was beneath the map.

MarkC_belfast shared the enemy player's Call of Duty profile in the comments, revealing that it was a level 551 player. This means that this is likely not someone hacking but instead a glitch within the game since a hacker probably wouldn't risk such a high-level account getting banned.

This isn't the first time Warzone has dealt with players glitching underneath the map. The same glitch occurred when the Warzone map was first updated to Verdansk '84 back in April, occurring at multiple points of interest, including the airport. A patch was released fixing those glitches within a few days of them being widely known about.

Microsoft is allowing third-party store apps, like the Epic Games Store, to be available on the Windows Store. This change will allow other storefronts to have their apps available to find and download directly from the Microsoft Store instead of needing to be downloaded from the web.

As reported by The Verge, Microsoft is allowing other storefronts to have discoverable app pages in the Windows Store within the next few months. This is part of a planned overhaul for the Microsoft Store on Windows 11 and later on Windows 10.

"Just like any other app, third-party storefront apps will have a product detail page--which can be found via search or by browsing--so that users can easily find and install it with the same confidence as any other app in the Microsoft Store on Windows," Microsoft Store general manager Giorgio Sardo said.

This is one of the multiple changes coming to the Microsoft Store with the Windows 11 update, which begins rolling out for free for Windows 10 users on October 5. The Microsoft Store is also allowing apps to offer alternative payment methods, which means that the Epic Games Store can be on the store without giving Microsoft a cut of its revenue. This change does not allow specific games or apps from these third-party storefronts to be searchable on the Windows Store, except for Amazon. When Android apps eventually come to Windows 11, the apps available through the Amazon Appstore will appear in search results on the Microsoft Store.

Windows 11 will also bring new gaming features to the platform including Auto-HDR and direct storage.

Call of Duty Season 6 arrives October 7, and Treyarch continues to tease more details for Black Ops Cold War's final round-based Zombies map. Today's tweets reveal a popular Black Ops 1 perk is coming to Zombies with Season 6, and there was also a schematic shown for a remote-controlled explosive device.

In yesterday's blog post, Treyarch revealed the final map is called Forsaken, and it will launch at the start of Season 6. A few details were also given about what players can expect for Cold War's Dark Aether story conclusion, as Requiem and Omega Group go head-to-head in a fight to deal with the Forsaken, a powerful entity that exists within the Dark Aether.

Whatever this final fight entails, Black Ops 1's PhD Flopper perk will likely be of some use. Treyarch tweeted out the perk machine jingle for PhD Flopper, so it's presumably the new perk arriving with Forsaken in Season 6.

Destiny 2 hasn't been scared to shed some blood, with 2018's Forsaken expansion infamously kicking off a new year of content with the death of beloved Vanguard Hunter Cayde-6. Since then, the game's cast has expanded as new seasonal content has been introduced, and developer Bungie has begun dropping subtle hints that another death may be on the horizon.

In an interview with GamesRadar, the outlet pointed out that the newly reintroduced sidearm Spoiler Alert has flavor text that reads "Someone is going to die," a phrase that was last mentioned in the Warmind DLC released before the Forsaken expansion. When pressed for more answers, senior narrative designer Nikko Stevens simply said that it was "no coincidence" that the gun bore that ominous warning, but beyond that, he wasn't ready to share any other details.

So which Destiny character could have numbered days in the constantly-evolving sandbox? Cayde-6's meant that Nathan Fillion's charismatic voice was no longer present in the game, while fellow Vanguard Warlock Ikora Rey's longtime voice actor Gina Torres--of 9-1-1 Lone Star and some forgettable sci-fi show called Firefly--was replaced in the role by Mara Junot. That just leaves Lance Reddick as the sole remaining original Vanguard voice actor.

Just over a week after Halo Infinite launches, professional players will be playing each other in the game's first major competitive tournament. The Halo Championship Series Kickoff Major is set to take place from December 17 to December 19 and will unite Halo fans and pro players alike under the same roof for the first time in nearly two years. However, getting tickets for the event at this point may be impossible.

The tournament, which will be held in Raleigh, North Carolina, is the first in-person Halo esports event since February 2020, and it's kicking off with a show. The HCS Kickoff Major has a starting prize pool of $250,000, fitting for Halo Infinite's first-ever competitive tournament. Just like any normal in-person tournament, there will be seating for spectators and a full main stage, along with extra stations for pool play.

While the HCS Kickoff Major is being held in person, the event isn't being run without COVID-19 in mind. A number of safety protocols are being implemented for the tournament, including either proof of vaccination or proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test, along with photo ID. Anyone attending the tournament is also required to wear a mask as long as they're inside the stadium.

Microsoft has a big library of popular characters and franchises, but film and TV adaptations of its IP have been few and far between over the years. Xbox boss Phil Spencer has now revealed why.

Speaking at TheGrill 2021 with Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick, Spencer said that, as with many things, it comes down to economics. Simply put, the business opportunity for interactive entertainment like games far outpaces the potential money Microsoft could make from a film or TV show based on one of its franchises or characters.

There is some value in transmedia efforts like the Halo TV show, the Minecraft movie, and the Gears of War film--but it's more about marketing and publicity as opposed to being a profit-driver on their own.

"I think the business value, [the] market value in today's top-tier gaming intellectual property is so high. For us, whenever we look at doing something in the linear space, we're very, very cautious," Spencer said.

Games make so much money that Microsoft does not want to risk a dud of a film or a TV show negatively impacting the perception of a given franchise. For TV shows and films based on Xbox franchises, "the economics usually don't match the economics" of the gaming business, Spencer said.

"So we look at them almost more like exposure and marketing opportunities," Spencer said.

Horizon: Forbidden West developer Guerrilla Games' new job listings appear to suggest that a multiplayer game could be on the way. The company is looking to hire a Senior Social Systems Designer who will work in "a core team of multiple designers focused on social systems and player engagements," and "ideate, create and share innovative features to build, engage, and nurture player interactions and relationships."

The listing goes on to say that the designer will create an environment where "compatible players can create Guild-like groups to explore together." Another job ad--Senior Narrative System Designer--points to a multiplayer game being in the works as well: It asks for the applicant to have experience in "narrative design in open-world RPG games, both single-player and online."

According to a Noclip interview with Horizon Zero Dawn game director Mathijs De Jonge, co-op elements were originally planned for the first Horizon game before getting scrapped, so it's possible the studio might reintroduce a multiplayer element for some future Horizon game. In any case, the hirings likely isn't related to the upcoming Horizon Forbidden West since no news about a co-op element has been mentioned yet in all the released PR content and teasers.

During TheWrap's digital event, TheGrill 2021, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said that Xbox Game Pass subscribers have reached the 30 million mark. This comment was made during a roundtable discussion that included Xbox executive Phil Spencer.

When the topic of business models and subscriptions in the games industry came up during the discussion, Spencer said that he thinks business models are key in the creative process of making games. Additionally, diverse business models allow for the most diverse output. However, he still appreciates the fact that consumers still purchase games at retail and are invested in buying content.

He spoke about Xbox Game Pass, saying, "We think about it as bringing more games to more people, but not as a replacement for retail. In fact, we had our biggest year in retail ever last year while our subscriptions were growing."

Zelnick continued to talk about interactive media and how subscription services need to offer content consumers want. He then asked Spencer, "I think last time we checked, we got around 30 million subs, Phil, right? Something like that?"

However, Spencer responded, "The last public number we announced was 18 [million]." Zelnick then appeared to try to course-correct himself, saying, "It's more than 18." He continued by noting that in order for a service like Game Pass to grow to a large audience of something like 200 million, it needs to serve consumers well.

Marcus Lehto is often credited as the "father of the Master Chief," and now fans can get a look at what the first iteration of the character (and his ride) would look like if Halo: Combat Evolved came out today.

Lehto, who left original Halo developer Bungie in 2012, has been sharing behind-the-scenes looks over the past few months on his Twitter as he recreated Combat Evolved's Master Chief, the original Warthog, the MA5B Assault Rifle, and the Halo ring itself in Unreal Engine 4. Now Lehto has shown off the finished product, and it's hard to argue with the results.

The attention to detail is impressive, to say the least. Nobody knows the Master Chief like Lehto, and it truly shows here.

It's the beginning of a new season for EA's FIFA series, with FIFA 22 scheduled to release on October 1. Ahead of launch, reviews for the game have begun to appear online, and we're rounding up review scores from across the internet to help you determine if the game is worth your time and money.

If you're an EA Play subscriber, you can play the game for 10 hours, so you can try that to find out if the game is something you'd want to buy outright. Another important thing to note here is that the Switch version of FIFA 22 is a "Legacy" edition that is missing features and functionality compared to the other editions. The review scores mentioned below are not for the Switch edition.

Here at GameSpot, our FIFA 22 review scored the game an 8/10. "FIFA 22 excels on the pitch with a patient and more methodical style, but additions elsewhere are only incremental and microtransactions still leave a bad taste," reviewer Richard Wakeling said.

For an even more detailed look, check out GameSpot sister site Metacritic.

Jonathan Hickman and the X-team return for a final act

Continue reading…

4K Switch model could arrive in 2022, Bloomberg reports

Continue reading…

Destruction AllStars studio said to be making new F2P Twisted Metal

Continue reading…

It’s a message movie that seems incredibly confused about its message

Continue reading…

John Ronald Tolkien, we need to talk

Continue reading…

There is no relationship like the one between a man and his symbiote

Continue reading…

Roblox developers are copying the show’s bloody games

Continue reading…

Wario isn’t the nicest Italian representation, but he reminds me of family I love

Continue reading…

Curbing harassment continues to be a “top priority” for Twitch

Continue reading…

Behind The Watcher and the anthology series’ unique approach to a team-up

Continue reading…

The fighting will have to stay online for now Fighting game tournament organizer Evo has announced that its plans for...

The post Evo calls off plans for in-person 2021 showcase appeared first on Destructoid.

A community blog by Kerrik52 [Destructoid reader Kerrik52 has a wide-ranging Dark Souls retrospective for us to dig into after...

The post A decade with Dark Souls appeared first on Destructoid.

It’s easier this way When I was in college, I was playing an obscene amount of games, often in four-hour...

The post I need more episodic games in my life appeared first on Destructoid.

What a pleasant surprise Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain is the latest in a long line of PC games to...

The post Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain just resurfaced on PC with a GOG release appeared first on Destructoid.

Still on course for a 2021 release in Japan D3 Publisher has finally revealed its platform plans for the upcoming...

The post Earth Defense Force 6 sets its sights on PlayStation platforms appeared first on Destructoid.

I just want 13 CDs of ‘Theme of Simon’, honestly There is perhaps no single more important and immediately recognizable...

The post 26 volume Castlevania Soundtrack Collection coming in December appeared first on Destructoid.

Sounds like the sequel might lean into the darker side of Spidey Insomniac Games recently confirmed it’s working on Marvel’s Spider-Man...

The post Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will be ‘a little darker’ appeared first on Destructoid.

Amazon to allow free server transfer to ease strain Yesterday saw the launch of New World, Amazon Games’ brand new...

The post Amazon’s New World MMO hits 700,000+ players at launch appeared first on Destructoid.

I ask of you, are you my main? The new Melty Blood: Type Lumina launches in just a few days, but today...

The post Saber joins the Melty Blood: Type Lumina roster appeared first on Destructoid.