Gaming News

eFootball Preview: PES Is Dead, Long Live eFootball

Football gaming is perhaps the most stagnant of all sports genres. FIFA’s pay-to-win, arcade hegemony lords it over PES’ clunky menus, but realistic gameplay. Rinse, reskin, and repeat. But this year that’s all changing. And when I went to Konami’s Windsor HQ for a hands-on event for eFootball - yes, the PES, aka Pro Evolution Soccer moniker is dead - I was intrigued as much by the gameplay as by their vision to make this bold experiment the future of sports games. Happily, the pre-release build I got my mitts on was excellent fun. That build was a hybrid of pre- and post-release. So some advanced gameplay mechanics that won’t be coming to the game until later this autumn (essentially, variations of shots and passes) were included...

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Death Stranding: 13 Biggest Changes in the Director's Cut

Death Stranding Director’s Cut comes with a slew of updates and new content, including but not limited to new weapons, a new vehicle, new ways to deliver cargo, and even a brand new story mission. Unlike the recently released Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut, which came with one big piece of new content and several quality of life updates, Death Stranding is instead opting for a ton of smaller tweaks and additions, which can make it a bit more confusing when trying to identify exactly what it is you’re getting with this upgrade. But don’t worry, we have you covered. We’ve combed through as much as we could, and picked out what we think are the 13 biggest additions and changes to the Death Stranding Director’s Cut. 1. New Graphics...

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Death Stranding Director's Cut Review

It’s been two years since Death Stranding’s release; in that time, the PS4 and PC versions of Kojima’s backbreaking delivery man simulator have gone on to sell more than five million copies combined, making it a success by any measure. However, anecdotally I’ve come across just as many people who have played Death Stranding and completely loved it as I have people who’ve bounced off it within its intentionally grueling opening hours. It’s the latter group of people who perhaps wanted to like it but couldn’t, along with any other fence-sitters, that this PlayStation 5 Director’s Cut seems to have in mind; its raft of quality-of-life improvements and player-friendly features added specifically to make more manageable molehills out of its...

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Respawn Responds to Its Own Employee's Titanfall Comments: 'Who Knows What the Future Holds'

After Respawn's community coordinator Jason Garza said that the studio is currently working on "too many other games" to create new content for the Titanfall franchise, Respawn's social media account seems to be offering a more hopeful take on the future of the series. After reports highlighting Garza's comments circulated the internet, Respawn took to Twitter to set the record straight - at least, sort of. "Contrary to what some folks are reporting," a tweet from the studio (below) reads. "Titanfall is the very core of our DNA. Who knows what the future holds..." Garza's initial comments suggested that any news of upcoming Titanfall content was unlikely, "There's nothing there. We've got too many other games in the works right...

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Aussie Deals: The Lowest Prices for WWZ Aftermath, FIFA 22, Far Cry 6, and More!

We're starting to hit the business end of 2021, which means a ton of AAAs to buy. With that in mind, I've gone snooping for the cheapest deals out there on the games you really ought to be paying attention to. You can also find some timeless stuff sprinkled into this mix as well. Basically, there's something here for every taste and budget! Notable Sales for Nintendo Switch Purchase Cheaply for PC Exciting Offers for XO/XS Product Savings for PS4/PS5 Sign up to get the best Aussie gaming deals sent straight to your inbox! Adam's an Aussie deals wrangler who spends too much of his income on the bargains he finds. You can occasionally find him @Grizwords. Continue reading...

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Here's Why Deathloop's More Robust Melee Combat Was Scrapped

Deathloop originally had a more robust melee combat system, but it was scrapped during development and replaced with the kick move. In a Noclip video interview around the 12:50 mark, Deathloop creative director Dinga Bakaba revealed that Deathloop originally had a combat parry system similar to Dishonored. This idea was scrapped in favor of Deathloop's simple and very powerful kick. "In the beginning, you could defend with the machete and parry and block like you said okay let's just ask ourselves all the questions that just put [sic] the fencing of Dishonored, we will figure it out later," Bakaba said. "But as soon as we added the multiplayer, something went wrong." Bakaba explained that the invader "has a delay over the host."...

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Sable Review

For an adventure game with no combat, no fail state, and not even much in the way of an objective, exploring Sable’s ruined desert of Midden was rarely ever dull. Driving a hoverbike through its stylish open world or climbing giant mountains and crumbling cities can be a lot of fun in a zen-like fashion. But for all the ways it manages to delight in its simplicity, dull puzzles, distracting bugs, and poor camera controls can also occasionally turn Sable’s peaceful world into a frustrating one. Sable tells a unique coming of age story, giving you control of a silent, masked protagonist in a fascinating world full of other creepy masked people, ruined sci-fi technology, and very little background to explain any of it. As a child...

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Kena: Bridge of Spirits Is Another Great PS5 (and PS4) Game - Beyond Episode 718

On this week's episode of IGN's weekly PlayStation show, Podcast Beyond!, host Jonathon Dornbush is joined by Brian Altano and Mitchell Saltzman to discuss Kena: Bridge of Spirits, another great console exclusive game for the PS4 and PS5 lineup. We jump into Mitchell's thoughts from his review, in which he called Kena a great game, what we love and hope to see improved about the combat and exploration in future games, our love of the beautiful art design and detail, and we weirdly get hung up on the game's fonts. But in general, we discuss what's so great about Kena's gameplay and world, and why you'll want to pick up Ember Lab's first game on PS4 or PS5. Plus, we dive into the recent reports about Quantic Dream's alleged Star Wars...

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Call of Duty Vanguard May Already Be Facing Hacker Problems

Activision Blizzard is currently facing serious ongoing allegations of harassment and mistreatment of marginalized workers. To learn more, please visit our timeline as well as our in-depth report on the subject. Call of Duty: Vanguard is already dealing with hacker problems in its beta, according to some players. Players are already posting evidence of hackers in the Vanguard beta on Twitter. Videos are circulating of players using aimbots, invincibility, and more. At the 19 second mark of the video below from CDL Intel on Twitter, you can see a killcam replay of a hacker using automatic aim, which locks on to enemies instantly around the map. Another instance of auto aiming can be seen from Dabzsy's Twitter video. You can see the...

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Apple Effectively Bans Fortnite From the App Store for Five Years

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney revealed that Apple has rejected the company’s request to re-instate Epic’s developer account, effectively banning Fortnite from returning to the App Store following the legal battle between Epic and Apple. Sweeney revealed on social media this morning a letter sent to him by Apple rejecting Epic’s request to have its developer program account reinstated. An Apple Developer Account is required to develop and deliver apps on iOS. Furthermore, Apple says it will not consider requests to reinstate Epic’s account “until the district court’s judgment becomes final and non-appealable,” which Sweeney says could be as long as five years. This all began when Epic pushed back against Apple’s payment 30% fee taken...

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Far Cry 6 Won't Feature Ray Tracing On PS5 and Xbox Series X

Ubisoft has revealed that Far Cry 6 will not feature ray tracing on consoles. This news comes by way of TechRadar, which reached out to Ubisoft for confirmation after a Ubisoft 3D Team Lead Programmer told Wccftech that ray tracing will be a "PC-only feature." Alongside ray tracing, AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution feature will be found only on PC versions of Far Cry 6 as well. "Ray Tracing is a PC-only feature," Ubisoft told TechRadar in a new statement. "On console, our objective has been to take advantage of new hardware capabilities, optimizing performance targeting 4K and achieving 60 FPS for instance, all while ensuring that the experience on the previous generation of console would remain consistent." In generations past, ray...

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Respawn Is Working on Too Many Other Games to Develop Titanfall 3

Titanfall's community coordinator Jason Garza says Respawn is unlikely to make Titanfall 3 or new content for Titanfall 2 as the studio is working on "too many other games" at the moment. As reported by Dextero, Garza revealed in a livestream that there was nothing in the works for the Titanfall series, saying, "There’s nothing there. We’ve got too many other games in the works right now.” Garza did clarify that Respawn is still investigating major hacking vulnerabilities in Titanfall 2, which has been plagued by security concerns and hackers. Titanfall is Respawn's first major franchise combining the first-person shooter genre with large mechs. Titanfall 2 was considered one of the best games of the year when it was released and...

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Everything Announced at Microsoft's 2021 Surface Event

Microsoft's latest Surface Event was arguably its biggest yet with three new two-and-one tablets, a new convertible laptop, an adaptive kit that helps you seamlessly navigate Surface devices, and an updated dual-screen foldable phone. In case you missed the livestream, here's everything Microsoft announced during this year's Surface hardware event. Surface Studio Laptop Instead of the next iteration of the Surface Book, Microsoft announced a "fresh take on [its] powerhouse laptop" in the form of the Surface Laptop Studio. This laptop's form factor looks similar to the HP Elite Folio or Acer Concept D Ezel as all three devices include a flexible hinge, allowing you to switch between a typical laptop shape and more into a table-like...

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How Lost Changed TV Fandom Forever

IGN has officially been around for two and a half decades, and has borne witness to a lot of monumental shifts in video game and entertainment culture in that time. To celebrate our lengthy tenure on this earth, IGN's 25th Anniversary Feature series will hone in on these shifts, and the movies, video games and TV shows that helped define them. Today, we’re looking back 2004's hit TV show Lost and how it changed television fandom forever. Today you can’t move on the internet without stumbling over spoilercasts, theory videos, and online conversations about your latest favourite TV show. So it’s hard to believe that as recently as 2004, people simply just watched television and then, at best, spoke about it within their close circles...

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Sonic's Creator Questions Whether Record-High Sonic Auction Price Is 'a Scam'

Sonic co-creator Yuji Naka was shocked to see that a copy of 1991's Sonic the Hedgehog for Sega Genesis had amassed a jaw-dropping $430,500 at auction. So shocked, in fact, that after seeing the price that his iconic retro game had sold for, Naka took to Twitter to ask his followers whether the winning bid was a scam. On September 19, Goldin Auctions announced that a final sale price for a Wata A-graded copy of Sonic the Hedgehog was an all-time record for any Genesis game. After seeing the announcement, Naka tweeted, seemingly holding out some hope that his game could reach such huge prices: "I wondered if it was time for Sonic to reach a high." However, the creator seemed unconvinced, asking his followers whether they thought the...

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Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Hands-On Preview

I’ll be honest: when I first saw the reveal of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, I was a little skeptical. Not of the tone, nor the story or the art design, but of the simple-looking combat that threatened to underwhelm. But after spending roughly an hour and a half hands-on with it, I couldn’t be happier to have been proven wrong. Guardians’ combat is highly enjoyable and a lot more complex than I first gave it credit for. And at the end of my short time with it, I found myself just wanting to play more. My sample of the combat came as part of chapter five of the campaign. At this point in the story, the Guardians have racked up a considerable amount of debt that needs to be paid to the Nova Corps. In order to pay that fine, they...

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Roblox Rolls Out ID-Based Age Verification Service

As the Roblox community continues to grow, the Roblox Corporation has taken the decision to roll out an ID verification service to confirm users' ages. Currently operating on an opt-in basis, the developer says that its new service will not only signal a level of trust between users but also enable the platform to provide better methods for age-appropriate communication between creators. As announced in an article on the Roblox blog, the developer says that age verification on the platform is important as it rolls out its new communication tool, spatial voice. The feature, which is currently being tested in a limited Developer Beta and is set to move into early access soon, will allow users to engage in voice chat within spatial voice...

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Aussie Deals: EA Racing and UbiStore Savings Over 80%, Cheap Switches, and More!

The sanity preserving school holiday savings continue in fine form today. Switch Lite consoles are selling like hotcakes and are also priced reasonably, so take advantage of that. Ubisoft's obsession with cut-priced AC bargains is also still a thing, as are dirt cheap (and damn highly-rated) first-party Sony titles. Anyway, less talk. More scrolling and saving! Notable Sales for Nintendo Switch Purchase Cheaply for PC Exciting Offers for XO/XS Product Savings for PS4/PS5 Sign up to get the best Aussie gaming deals sent straight to your inbox! Adam's an Aussie deals wrangler who spends too much of his income on the bargains he finds. You can occasionally find him @Grizwords Continue reading...

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How to Get Characters in Genshin Impact

Are you playing Genshin Impact and unsure of how to get the characters you want? Well, you’re in the right place. This guide explains Gacha systems, pity, banners, currencies, and more. The Gacha System Explained Genshin Impact is a Gacha game that uses an RNG. You may have seen this term tossed around by the community and it stands for “random number generator”. An RNG is an algorithm that, well… generates random numbers. And these numbers are used to dictate the results of certain events. Simply put -- it’s luck -- and it plays a big role in Gacha systems. Many would say that the Gacha system is the controversial part of Genshin Impact. It’s often what puts off some players from the game, and for others, it might be what attracts...

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This Fall Is FPS Heaven – Unlocked 512

Battlefield 2042's short delay has set up a heck of a Fall/holiday season for first-person shooter fans. We discuss each of the five major FPS games out between now and the end of the year: Far Cry 6, Back 4 Blood, Call of Duty: Vanguard, the aforementioned Battlefield 2042, and Halo Infinite. And please welcome back guest panelist NeoGameSpark! Subscribe on any of your favorite podcast feeds, to our new YouTube channel, or grab an MP3 download of this week's episode. For more awesome content, check out our Halo Infinite Flight performance preview, which does a deep-dive tech analysis on the still-in-development slice of Halo Infinite multiplayer: Oh, and you can be featured on Unlocked by tweeting us a video Loot Box question...

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Executive In Charge of Overwatch 2 Leaves Blizzard

Overwatch Executive Producer Chacko Sonny is leaving Blizzard Entertainment on Friday, according to an Activision spokesman talking to Bloomberg. A Blizzard spokesman confirmed to Bloomberg that Chacko, who oversees the whole Overwatch franchise and development for the sequel, will leave the company. "[Blizzard] has been an absolute privilege and one of the best experiences of my career," Sonny said in an email to staff, according to Bloomberg. Blizzard also says that Overwatch 2 is nearing the end of production at the time of Sonny's exit. An update on Overwatch 2 will be provided later this month, and the timeline on it may have shifted considering Overwatch 2 was reportedly still years out from launch. Activision Blizzard is...

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Alan Wake Remastered Could Be a Switch Game After All

Alan Wake Remastered could also be heading to the Nintendo Switch after it was rated for the platform by a Brazillian agency. As reported by the website switch-brasil.com and shared on Resetera, it appears that a Brazillian games rating agency has filed a rating for Alan Wake Remastered, Remedy’s update to its 2010 mystery-thriller. International rating boards have leaked several, if not hundreds of games in the past though you can still take it with a grain of salt. Alan Wake Remastered was previously announced for PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Playstation 4, and Xbox Series X|S, so the inclusion of Switch in the Brazillian rating is new. It’s unclear exactly whether this will be a full release on the Switch or a cloud version of...

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Deathloop's Stuttering Problem Addressed In New Update

Deathloop received a hotfix for PC on Tuesday to combat a widespread stuttering issue. The patch notes for the new update address potential stutter when moving the camera in-game with a mouse. The patch notes also mention that the developers are aware of stuttering at high framerates and are working to fix the problem. "This hotfix addresses an issue experienced by some players on PC whereby mouse-based camera movement could result in the appearance of 'stutter,'" the patch notes read. "Additionally, we are looking into a separate, but related issue that we have identified as a factor that may also be a cause of stuttering at high framerates. We will update further on this as soon as we have more information." The stuttering issue...

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Best Chromebook 2021: Capable and Affordable Chrome OS Laptops

Chromebooks have come a long way from being affordable cookie cutter laptops that completely rely on the Internet to function. These days Chrome OS devices can cost anywhere from $100 to upwards of $1,000. Even their form factors can vary from tablets to clamshell laptops and convertible notebooks. Meanwhile, processing power and storage has become much more important as almost all Chromebooks are capable of running Android apps. There’s a lot more to consider when buying a Chromebook, but we’ve been keeping our finger on the pulse of this developing Chrome OS world. Whether you’re looking for a good, all-around Chromebook, something that’ll survive the rigors of the classroom, or a high-end device that’ll make Ultrabook owners...

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Best Gaming Desk 2021: The Finest Desks for PC and Console Gaming

Gaming desks are often overlooked pieces of furniture but they're the foundation upon which every great gaming setup is built. From being a sturdy place to put your gaming PC and gaming monitor to having enough space to spread out with your gaming mouse, there's a lot to consider when buying the right gaming desk. What's more, you should strive to achieve proper ergonomics. If your desk is too high or low, you might be putting undue strain on your joints and muscles that could really make it hard to enjoy lots of gaming. So, it's worth your while to get a quality gaming desk built with a gamer's needs in mind. Not only can they help ensure all those aforementioned needs are met, but many include extra features, like cable routing, USB...

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Arcade Paradise Preview: It's Retro-Game Inception

If you ever find yourself stuck sprucing up a rusty, beaten-down laundromat owned by your business mogul dad -- who just happens to be Geralt of Rivia voice actor Doug Cockle -- you might consider sticking it to the old man by secretly converting the entire thing into a classic 1990s-style arcade. If that’s up your alley, then you’ll be pleased as fruit punch to discover the upcoming Arcade Paradise, a management sim in the vein of Stardew Valley that has you running and managing your very own arcade from the ground up. But this isn’t just any management sim. Not only will you run the laundromat and arcade businesses side-by-side as you manage each of your different funnels of income, it sounds like you’ll also get to dive into and...

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Deathloop's Lack of Accessibility Options Is Disappointing Players

Arkane Studios' Deathloop has received a lot of praise since its launch. However, its lack of accessibility options has become an important, and disappointing factor for a number of players. The issue of accessibility was raised in a thread of tweets created by user @CyclopediaBrain, which discussed further some of the issues experienced by players in Deathloop – cursor-based menus, a lack of button remapping, small text sizes, hard-to-read fonts, and an inability to customise UI indicators were all mentioned. The thread also highlighted some of the possible changes that Arkane could make to the game to make it easier to access for a number of its players. Accessibility advocate and YouTube reviewer Steve Saylor added to the...

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Halo Infinite Dev Explains Multiplayer Challenges to Ease Worries About Progression

Halo Infinite developer 343 Industries has addressed player concerns about the game's challenge-based multiplayer progression, stating that it "it should take a player 16 to 18 hours of playing" before they run out of daily challenges. On the latest Inside Infinite post on Halo Waypoint, 343's community manager John Junyszek outlined how Halo Infinite's progression will work. Rather than progressing through Infinite's Battle Pass system with traditional XP granted for kills, assists, and wins, XP will instead be provided for completing weekly and daily challenges. Players have previously voiced concern about how this system time-gates progression, as if you run out of challenges then there's no way to push forward through the Battle...

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Prices for Fortnite's Collaboration With Fashion Brand Balenciaga Will Make Your Eyes Water

Epic Games is no stranger to a Battle Royale-based collaboration, but prices for its latest clothing line deal with luxury fashion brand Balenciaga are likely to make even diehard Fortnite fans' eyes water. The Fortnite x Balenciaga collaboration features a number of in-game cosmetics that fans can purchase from within the item shop. However, it's the price of Balenciaga's IRL clothing range that is sure to make heads turn. Take the hoodie worn in the Shady Doggo skin pictured below - that's the anthropomorphic dog dressed in white if you're less familiar with the game. As well as being able to purchase the skin in-game, fans can buy a physical version of the same hoodie from the Balenciaga store... so long as they have a mere $725 to...

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Kena: Bridge of Spirits Review

It makes sense that Ember Lab, the developer of Kena: Bridge of Spirits, started out as an animation studio. Just looking at this gorgeous world and Pixar-esque character designs tells you that this is a team that has a ton of experience in making incredible digital works, including their Majora’s Mask fan film, Terrible Fate. While Bridge of Spirits' gameplay doesn’t quite match the extraordinarily high bar set by its visuals for a number of reasons, including some bland storytelling and shallow progression, this 3D open-world action-adventure is still nonetheless an impressive achievement thanks to its exciting and deceptively simple combat and an excellent balance of action, puzzle solving, and platforming. Kena is a Spirit Guide...

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