Month: November 2018

The retail and auction site Ebay has announced a lengthy sale with some discounts on games and tech rotating daily. It lasts through November 11, and already features discounts on hardware, consoles, and recent game releases.

The current deals listed on the official site include a white Xbox One S 1 TB for $240 and a refurbished grey Nintendo Switch for $275. You can also pick up Red Dead Redemption 2 on Xbox One for $48, or Spider-Man for $50.

In hardware and tech, the deals list a Samsung 50″ LED 4K TV with HDR for $420, and an AMD Ryzen 7 1700X Desktop Processor 8-Core for $170. The main page has a full section for PC accessories and another for laptops and tablets with lots of offerings on display–particularly Chromebooks and monitors. A Microsoft Surface Go is only discounted ten bucks to $540, but comes with a $50 Xbox gift card.

According to the promotion, we can expect more game deals next Monday, November 5, with the theme “Game Time.” Those include a Neon Red/Blue Nintendo Switch, HyperX Cloud II Red Gaming Headset for $60, and HP 27″ Edge to Edge HD Gaming Monitor for $140.

Other deals are smaller but notable. A few models of Apple iPhones are discounted by $20 today, and the Apple Watch Series 4 will be discounted by $10 on November 7. If you’re a gadget enthusiast, you may want to check back on November 3 for deals like a Remo smart security camera for $150, or the Ecobee Smart Thermostat for $200.

These discounts appear primed to let users get a jump on Black Friday, which is certain to have a wealth of its own deals incoming as well. We’ve already seen Target’s and more are on the way.

The latest Super Smash Bros. Ultimate presentation was chock full of new announcements, including word of a special dedicated service coming next year. Dubbed “Smash World,” the free service will let you post and watch videos of your glory moments.

Game director Masahiro Sakurai teased that the service will boast other unnamed features as well, and that it will be given regular updates throughout its lifespan. The brief glimpse at the UI shown during the presentation had a large array of video captures appearing on a mobile device.

Smash World isn’t the only extra coming to Smash Bros. in 2019. The presentation also revealed plans for DLC characters, stages, and music to come throughout the year. There will be five packs in all–each of which grants one character, one stage, and some music tracks–for $6 apiece. Nintendo is also offering a Fighter Pass for $25. In addition to those five characters, Piranha Plant is being added as a playable character, and he’ll(?) be free for anyone who registers their copy of the game by January 31, 2019.

As for launch day content, the presentation revealed a few more goodies in store on that front as well. Two more fighters joined the roster–Ken and Incineroar–and we finally got a closer look at both the Adventure Mode and the new Spirits Mode, along with how online matchmaking works.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate launches December 7. Check out our pre-order guide for more details.

Alongside the ongoing Fortnitemares challenges, Fortnite: Battle Royale players have reached Week 6 in Season 6. The Thursday weekly reset means a whole new batch of weekly challenges to complete. Completing the weekly challenges is crucial to earn Battle Stars and level up your Battle Pass, which in turn will earn you cosmetic items. We have a breakdown of Week 6’s challenges, but if you want to catch up on all the still-active quests from previous weeks, take a gander at our comprehensive Fortnite Season 6 challenge guide.

As always, the challenges are split into two tiers. The free section, available to all, tasks you with placing Chillers in different matches, searching for a Chest in different named locations, and getting three shotgun eliminations.

The higher tier challenges available only to Battle Pass owners give out stars as well. You can get rewards for landing at Shifty Shafts, dealing pickaxe damage, finding sheet music, and elimination with a common weapon. The landing, sheet music, and elimination challenges are all multi-stage quests, so you’ll have other challenges open up after you complete the first phase.

Fortnite Season 6, Week 5 Challenges

Free

• Place Chillers in different matches (3) — 5 Battle Stars
• Search a Chest in different Named Locations (7) — 5 Battle Stars
• Shotgun Eliminations (3) — 10 Battle Stars

Battle Pass

• Land at Shifty Shafts (Part 1 of 5) — 1 Battle Star
• Deal damage with a pickaxe to opponents (250) — 5 Battle Stars
• Find the Sheet Music in Pleasant Park (Part 1 of 4) — 2 Battle Stars (10 total)
• Elimination with a Common weapon (Part 1 of 5) — 2 Battle Stars (10 total)

If you complete those and still have a hankering for more challenges, you can also take part in the Fortnitemares event. Though ostensibly tied to Halloween, it’s still ongoing for a few more days. You can take on special Fortnitemares challenges to earn the Outlander skin and other cosmetics. Outlander and some of the others are part of a new type of reactive cosmetics which change appearance based on your match performance. You can find out more about the Fortnitemare event and challenges here.

Today’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate presentation filled out the rest of the roster and revealed all of the fighters that will be in the game upon release. But more are coming, as the presentation also noted that more fighters will be added post-launch as DLC.

Each fighter pack will include one fighter, one stage, and multiple music tracks, for $6. Nintendo is planning to release five packs, and you can purchase a bundle “Fighters Pass” for $25 that will include all five fighters, five stages, and all the music tracks. Nintendo noted that it hasn’t begun active development on the fighters yet so it may take up to a year to complete the full Fighter’s Pass. Purchasing the Fighter’s Pass will also get you an outfit based on Rex from Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

Another piece of post-launch content is coming for free. Piranha Plant will be available for free for early purchasers. If you buy Super Smash Bros. Ultimate digitally or register your physical copy by January 31, 2019, you’ll get the fighter at no cost around February 2019. It will be available for purchase separately sometime later.

Today’s presentation revealed the final two roster characters: Ken and Incineroar. It also took the wraps off the final mode, Spirits, which allows you to take part in special challenges to earn equippable buffs for your characters. This also serves as the story for the game, as Nintendo teased that there will be a plot explanation for the characters being turned into apparitions. You can read about every announcement and watch the highlights of the Direct in our news round-up.

Smash Bros. Ultimate launches on December 7. Check out our pre-order guide for more details.

Microsoft has announced a wealth of new and upcoming features for its Mixer streaming platform, in an update it has dubbed “Mixer Season 2.” The new features include more flexible ways to support streamers, and in the long-term, a progression system that rewards your participation with Mixer streamers.

First, viewers can participate with streamers with a wider array of responses called Skills. These are elements like animated gifs, stickers, and visual effects. Using a Skill on a partner’s channel goes to support them financially, and Microsoft promises they’ll be updated frequently. To send Skills you can use Sparks, a sort of in-app currency that you earn by watching streams. You can then use those Sparks to pay for Skills that support your favorite streamers. Sometime soon you’ll also be able to purchase Embers, a higher tier of virtual currency that can pay for special Skills to send to streamers.

Coming sometime in 2019, Mixer will add a progression system akin to a video game. You can level up by participating in chat, using Skills, or just tuning in every day. Consistent engagement will let you unlock new Skills. Microsoft says this will help differentiate watchers by their level of engagement, rather than splitting them into the binary of “subscribers” and “non-subscribers.” The company teased that progression can also be earned by gaining Applause from other users, but didn’t go into detail about how that system will work.

Other under-the-hood improvements are coming as well. Automatic bitrate switching will help users have a consistent viewing experience. Creators can use FTL streaming on more software and devices. And Mixer viewers will be able to report video issues more easily.

Mixer launched in 2016 as Beam and has been positioning itself as a Twitch competitor by offering similar features like a dedicated app and game purchases. These chances for Season 2 appear aimed at differentiating the platform more on its own, so we’ll have to see if its competition follows suit.

A Fallout 76 bug caused some PC users to accidentally delete the entire game, prompting Bethesda to extend the beta as a make-good. After warning users not to click any buttons on the client, it told them to allow the beta game file to redownload. The company later took responsibility for the bug and announced the extension.

Eurogamer reports that the bug only impacted PC users, but those affected had to redownload the entire 50 GB beta file. That could lead to long wait times and ISP data restrictions, so the company was compelled to issue a mea culpa. It will now run on November 2 from 11 AM to 8 PM PT. The tweet notes this extension is for everyone, so users on the PS4 and Xbox One get a little extra benefit without having been impacted by the bug.

Several test dates were already planned for next week: November 1 from 11 AM to 4 PM PT, November 3 from 2 PM to 6 PM PT, and November 4 from 11 AM to 6 PM PT. You’ll be able to keep your progress from the beta into the full game, so read up on all the upcoming beta times and how you can still get in before the game launches in our beta guide.

If you’re already exploring the wastes and looking for some advice, check out our guide for some beginner survival tips and what you should check out first. Fallout 76 launches for PC, PS4, and Xbox One on November 14.

Red Dead Redemption 2‘s world includes some nice callbacks to the first game in the main story, but also through Easter Eggs sprinkled throughout the environment. One of these Easter Eggs involves Bonnie MacFarlane, who was one of John Marston’s biggest allies in RDR1. In the Red Dead Redemption lore, Bonnie gets married, but it doesn’t work out.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, you can find a man lying by the shore of the Flat Iron Lake (see exact location below), and at first he appears dead. You poke him and he emerges from his slumber, thrusting a letter into your chest before collapsing and dying on the beach. The “Letter To Bonnie MacFarlane” appears to be written by her divorced husband.

It is very sad.

In the letter, the unnamed man apologises to Bonnie for how things get “out of control” in his head, before going on to say he and Bonnie and destined to be together. Unfortunately for him, that’s not going to happen.

Here is the full text of the letter:

“Dear Miss MacFarlane, I’m sorry. I said it. I’m sorry. You’re right. I do let things get out of control in my head. I always have. I see that but I love you. We are meant to be together. It is our destiny. I know it is. I saw us in a dream, raising kids. You were very happy as my wife and I was proud to be your husband. Dreams don’t lie and neither do I.

“I’m heading off to make my fortune and when I come back as a rich man, you’ll see what a fine husband I will make you, and a father to our children. And no, I won’t grow up. On that subject you’re wrong. I’ve got so many things to say to you. I’m going to continue with the writing of this letter later, but believe me when I say, we are destined for a long, happy life together. Even your father will come to believe it and accept me, no matter how humble my birth.”

After you’re done reading the letter be sure to loot the boxes nearby his corpse; you’ll find money, whiskey, a watch, and other items.

GameSpot will have a big video coming up soon where we round up some of the more notable and interesting Easter Eggs we’ve found so far in Red Dead Redemption 2, so check back with us for that.

The Resident Evil 2 remake is right around the corner, and Capcom is playing into your survival horror nostalgia with a little treat for long-time fans. The company announced that the classic costumes for Leon and Claire will be unlockable in the game for free.

That means Leon’s “Classic Police Costume” and Claire’s “Classic Jacket Costume” will be available for all players. As some eagle-eyed fans have noted, Claire’s is slightly different than her original look, which had black sleeves and a high neck from the shirt worn under her jacket. As an homage, though, it’s recognizable.

This comes just after a new trailer revealed exclusive costumes that you can get by purchasing one of the game’s Deluxe and Collector’s Editions. Those included a Military and Elza Walker outfit for Claire, and the Arklay Sheriff costume for Leon. Both also have a Noir costume for that smoky old-school look. All of those are included in both the Deluxe and Collector’s Editions, which come with a few different goodies. The Deluxe includes an exclusive pistol and additional music options, while the CE has all that plus some physical items: a 12-inch Leon statue, art book, and RPD renovation blueprints.

The Resident Evil 2 remake is coming on January 25, 2019 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. While the remake is striving to stay true to the mood and tone of the original, it’s taking some big liberties. The controls and camera are more akin to later Resident Evil games, making for a uniquely fresh take on the classic.

Capcom has announced Resident Evil, Resident Evil 0, and Resident Evil 4 are getting Nintendo Switch ports. All three ports are currently scheduled for 2019, but a specific release dates haven’t been revealed yet. Capcom tweeted that more info is coming “soon.”

The original Resident Evil first released in 1996, and it went on to spawn an entire franchise of zombie-killing video games. Some, like the 2002 prequel Resident Evil 0, are also third-person survival horror games, while others are more action-centric or play out in first-person. 2005’s Resident Evil 4 is widely considered as the best in the series, and received critical acclaim upon release.

When Resident Evil first released, we gave it an 8.2/10 in our review, praising it for “the gorgeous, photorealistic, dilapidated rooms and abomination-filled corridors” and describing it as a “genuinely” scary experience. In our Resident Evil 0 review, we gave the prequel an 8/10, wishing the game had acknowledged all “the things that have made Resident Evil a nuisance to some” but enjoying the gameplay and story all the same. We awarded a 9.6/10 in our Resident Evil 4 review, assuring that the game would blow away anyone who’s “entertained by any other mature-rated action game.”

While Switch owners may appreciate them, this certainly won’t be the first time these games been ported to another platform. The original Resident Evil is available on Playstation, PC, and Nintendo DS. There’s also an HD remaster for GameCube and Wii, as well as a remake for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3, and PC. Resident Evil 0 is available on GameCube and Wii, with an HD remaster on Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3, and PC. Resident Evil 4 can be played on GameCube, PS2, PC, Wii, and mobile, with a HD remaster available for Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, and PS3.

The last new game in the main-line franchise was Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, which went first-person but retained the survival horror roots of the original game. A remake for Resident Evil 2 is in the works and scheduled to release for Xbox One, PS4, and PC on January 25 in 2019.