Month: November 2019

Pokemon Go‘s Team Rocket event is winding down, but Niantic has plenty of other activities planned for the hit Pokemon mobile game this month. The developer has outlined several new events scheduled to take place throughout the rest of November, and they include a friend celebration, as well as the debut of another new Legendary Pokemon.

First, Niantic is hosting a Supereffective Week event from November 19-26. During that time, Pokemon that will be effective against Team Rocket and other trainers will appear more often in the wild, Raid Battles, and Field Research tasks. On top of that, you’ll have your first chance to find and catch a Shiny Tentacool. You’ll also receive two times the normal amount of Stardust from trainer battles, and PokeStops will distribute more Potions and Revives.

Following Supereffective Week, the Legendary Pokemon Terrakion will make its debut in five-star Raid Battles, replacing the current Legendary, Cobalion. Terrakion is also a part of the Swords of Justice trio. It’s a dual Rock/Fighting-type, which means you’ll want to bring along Grass, Ground, Water, Fighting, or Psychic Pokemon when challenging it. Terrakion will appear in Raids until December 17.

Finally, Niantic is capping off the month with the first ever Friend Fest. The event kicks off on November 27 and runs until December 2. During that time, you’ll encounter “family-themed Pokemon” such as Nidoran and their evolutions more often in the wild and through Field Research tasks. Trading Pokemon with friends will also require half the usual amount of Stardust, and you’ll be able to make two special trades per day. You can read more details about all the November events on the official Pokemon Go website.

Of course, before these events roll around, Niantic is hosting November’s Community Day. That takes place this Saturday, November 16–the day after Pokemon Sword and Shield launch for Nintendo Switch. The featured Pokemon for this month’s event is Chimchar, the Fire-type starter from Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. Not only will you have your first chance to catch a Shiny Chimchar during the Community Day, eggs will hatch at a quarter of their normal distance during the event.

If an advertisement that recently appeared on Twitch is any indication, it looks like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is on its way to Xbox Game Pass. If that’s the case, you’ll soon be able to play GameSpot’s 2015 Game of the Year for as little as $1.

Reddit user tombonez initially spotted the ad for Xbox Game Pass on Twitch. The sizzle reel showcases The Witcher 3’s inclusion along with titles currently available on the service such as Gears 5 and The Outer Worlds. With Microsoft set to announce Game Pass news during X019 later today, it stands to reason that The Witcher 3 will be part of the festivities.

Aside from winning Game of the Year in 2015, The Witcher 3 also received one of GameSpot’s elusive 10/10 review scores. A Netflix Witcher series is also on the way and has already been renewed for a second season.

Red Dead Redemption 2‘s biggest PC update so far is now available to download. As promised, update 1.14 implements fixes for the stuttering issue caused by certain configurations of Nvidia GPUs and four- and six-core CPUs. Rockstar has also issued a workaround while it collaborates with Nvidia to permanently solve the issue, along with introducing a host of other fixes.

The temporary workaround for the stuttering problem uses a command line to slightly re-balance and ease the load on the CPU. If you’ve run into the problem yourself, Rockstar has a support page explaining how to add the command and potentially fix the issue for the time being.

The update also brings a plethora of improvements to graphics, performance, stability, control, UI, and general bug fixes. The full patch notes can be found below:

Update 1.14 Full Patch Notes

Graphics & Performance Fixes

• Added an additional launch argument (-cpuLoadRebalancing) to rebalance workload on the CPU cores and avoid hitting an edge-case in certain NVIDIA graphics card drivers that causes significant stalls on 4-core and 6-core CPUs
• Added improvements for performance and stability on graphics cards with 4GB of VRAM or less when using Vulkan
• Fixed an issue that resulted in audio stuttering and sound drops on some CPUs when using Vulkan
• Fixed an issue that resulted in graphics problems when using Fullscreen mode on systems with multiple displays
• Fixed an issue that resulted in the game becoming stuck in Windowed Borderless mode instead of Fullscreen mode if the game lost focus or certain graphics settings were changed under DirectX 12
• Fixed issues that resulted in the incorrect detection of devices and problems switching between SDR and HDR modes. Players who previously encountered these issues should enable HDR through the Windows Display Settings prior to launching the game
• Fixed an issue that resulted in the game launching in a window larger than the maximum resolution of the attached display when using Windowed display mode
• Improved the auto-detection of system hardware so that the recommended default graphics settings will provide higher performance
• Fixed an issue that resulted in the game setting a default graphics preset that was unsupported by the amount of available VRAM on some graphics cards, preventing the game from launching
• Fixed an issue that resulted in VRAM usage estimation for pending settings changes to be slightly different to the actual usage once the settings were applied
• Added a separate option to enable tessellation on tree models within the Graphics settings menu
• Fixed an issue that resulted in reduced performance when switching between different graphics settings presets without restarting the system
• Fixed an issue that affected the brightness of Photo Mode images that were captured in HDR after editing them using the Social Club menu
• Fixed issues with some full-screen effects and Photo Mode filters when using a display aspect ratio other than 16:9
• Fixed an issue that resulted in graphics artifacts in mirror reflections when using Multisample Anti-Aliasing (MSAA)
• Fixed an issue that resulted in graphics artifacts on the Pause Menu Map when using Multisample Anti-Aliasing (MSAA )
• Fixed issues with rendering and lighting that occurred with some waterfalls
• Fixed issues with rendering that occurred with a Story Mode character
• Fixed an issue that resulted in flickering graphics artifacts on some systems using multiple graphics cards
• Fixed an issue that resulted in graphical corruption during the theater shows in Saint Denis
• Fixed an issue that resulted in graphics artifacts to appear when rendering some light reflections
• Fixed an issue that affected the rendering of the Pause Menu background after changing the display resolution
• Fixed an issue that resulted in reduced world detail at long distance when using items that allow zooming, such as scopes and binoculars
• Fixed an issue that resulted in rendering issues with shadows on some parts of the terrain
• Fixed an issue that resulted in graphics artifacts that could occur with some hair/fur rendering when using Multisample Anti-Aliasing (MSAA)
• Improved the performance rendering some in-game particle effects
• Improved the performance rendering of trails when in snowy areas of the game
• Fixed an issue that resulted in the partial rendering of the Pause Menu while some graphics settings were active

Stability Fixes

• Fixed issues that resulted in crashes during game startup and logo screen
• Fixed issues that resulted in crashes when changing graphics settings or switching back and forth between presets
• Fixed an issue that resulted in crashes during the initial boot of the game in the Windowed display mode
• Fixed an issue that resulted in a crash when switching between Windowed and Fullscreen display modes on some graphics cards
• Fixed an issue that resulted in a crash when the game window lost focus or as a result of using Alt+Tab
• Fixed an issue that resulted in a crash when attempting to load an autosave on some systems
• Fixed an issue that resulted in a crash when repeatedly transitioning between Story Mode and Red Dead Online
• Fixed issues that resulted in crashes when attempting to quit the game
• Fixed an issue that resulted in a crash on some systems when connecting and disconnecting input devices with the game running
• Fixed an issue that resulted in a crash when attempting to switch weapons in Story Mode
• Fixed an issue that resulted in a crash when opening the HDR Calibration screen with some combinations of graphics cards and displays
• Fixed an issue that resulted in a crash when using the mouse to switch between categories in the Satchel menu
• Fixed an issue that resulted in the game freezing when applying remapped keyboard inputs through the Settings menu
• Fixed an issue that resulted in an infinite loading screen when exiting the Settings menu and returning to the Landing Page
• Fixed an issue that resulted in a crash when playing Story Mode while offline
• Fixed crashes and stability issues that resulted in the error “Red Dead Redemption 2 exited unexpectedly” during gameplay
• Fixed an issue with attempting to join another player’s Red Dead Online session with a different control scheme or lock-on type that resulted in networking issues
• Fixed an issue that prevented the Red Dead Redemption 2 desktop shortcut from correctly launching the game

Control & User Interface Fixes

• Improved mouse support in some Store menus
• Fixed an issue that resulted in a black screen during the initial boot of the game rather than the loading bar
• Fixed an issue that resulted in players being unable to equip emotes in Red Dead Online while using the mouse
• Fixed an issue that resulted in the Map in the Pause Menu being cut off when changing the game resolution
• Fixed an issue that resulted in player overhead displays to appear in the incorrect position on displays other than 16:9 aspect ratio in Red Dead Online
• Fixed an issue that prevented some keyboard inputs from being remapped
• Fixed an issue that resulted in some incorrect text and warning screens to appear when remapping keyboard inputs
• Fixed issues that resulted in problems with scrolling in parts of the user interface
• Fixed an issue that resulted in some menus not displaying input controls, including Safe Zone and Brightness Calibration screens
• Fixed issues with keyboard text input when using some languages
• Fixed issues that resulted in the red selection highlight disappearing while browsing through menus
• Fixed issues that resulted in problems with mouse selection, or erratic cursor movement when browsing some menus
• Fixed an issue with keyboard navigation of the Pause Map after selecting a blip/icon.
• Fixed an issue that resulted in players being unable to complete some actions while inspecting weapons
• Fixed an issue that resulted in save game information to be missing from the Load Game menu
• Fixed issues with text input of non-Latin characters and added support for more input methods
• Fixed an issue that resulted in the Pause Map moving position after placing a waypoint
• Fixed an issue that resulted in difficulty aiming with a mouse, especially at low DPI settings
• Fixed issues that resulted in incorrectly sized, overlapping or misaligned user interface elements under different display resolutions
• Fixed an issue that resulted in the loss of previous selections when navigating back and forth between menus
• Fixed an issue that resulted in redundant options in the Keyboard and Mouse submenu of the Controls menu

General / Miscellaneous

• Improved the stability and result consistency of the in-game Benchmark Tool
• Fixed an issue that resulted in players appearing underneath the world when in the lobby screen while playing some Red Dead Online content
• Fixed an issue that resulted in incorrect performance of the ‘Tap and Hold Speed Control’ accessibility feature while using keyboard and mouse controls in First Person camera mode
• Fixed an issue that resulted in camera stuttering when using the mouse to look around while sprinting
• Fixed an issue that caused problems with the fishing minigame when running at high framerates

This year is the 45th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons, the most popular tabletop roleplaying game of all time. To celebrate, D&D is putting out an expensive new dice set featuring a sapphire gem on it that grown in a lab. It’s a science stone, a glorious, shiny science stone.

As a D&D player myself, I’m not one to judge, but how is your dice game? Are you using anything high end? You should be. Throw that dice set from your local comic shop away which you bought for $8, and be the talk of your group with the finest of anniversary dice sets from D&D, which will run you $300, check it out below.

The main feature of the dice is a d20 with a lab-grown sapphire on the 20-side. Have you ever had a gem grown by a scientist put onto one of your icosahedrons? Probably not, but now you can. But why would D&D do this?

“When the D&D team realized the sapphire is the traditional anniversary stone for both five years and forty-five years, and that adding a laboratory-created sapphire to a twenty-sided die wouldn’t jeopardize the integrity of a roll, we couldn’t pass up the chance to make something really cool to celebrate the milestones,” said Nathan Stewart, VP of the D&D franchise at Wizards of the Coast. “The team put together a fun product for our fans that includes art and newly updated stats for sapphire dragons, making these classic dragons ready for play in your next D&D session.”

The 45th anniversary set comes with two d20s–one of which has a sapphire in it–one d12, two d10s, one d8, four d6s, and one d4. It also comes in a custom dice box and dice tray, a foldout card with game statistics for adult, sapphire dragons, an exclusive sticker set, and a collector’s card confirming the set’s authenticity.

The 45th anniversary D&D dice set releases on November 21 for $300, and it can be purchased directly through the D&D site. Only 1,974 were made of this set, so supplies are limited.

Eddie Murphy’s latest movie, the Rudy Ray Moore biopic Dolemite is my Name, has given the comedy icon some of his best reviews for decades. The film was made for Netflix, and it looks like Murphy’s relationship with the streaming giant will continue, with the news that the long-in-development Beverly Hills Cop 4 is heading there.

As reported by Variety, Netflix has acquired the rights to the fourth movie in the hit action comedy series from Paramount. The deal was announced by Bob Bakish, CEO of Paramount’s parent company Viacom. This follows the announcement this week of a major deal between Netflix and Nickelodeon, another Viacom company.

Beverly Hills Cop 4 has been in the works for several years. In June 2016, Belgian directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah were hired to direct, with production expected to begin in 2017. This didn’t happen, but last month, Murphy stated that he would begin work on the film once production on the upcoming Coming to America 2 was finished. In the meantime, El Arbi and Fallah have directed Bad Boys For Life, which hits theaters in January.

While we don’t know what the plot of Beverly Hills Cop 4 will be, it was previously rumored that the movie will center upon the relationship between Murphy’s Axel Foley, who is now a veteran LA cop, and a tough, younger officer from Detroit.

Beverly Hills Cop 4 was originally announced in the mid-’90s, and then again a decade later, with Rush Hour’s Brett Ratner initially lined up to direct. The most recent attempt to revitalise the action comedy franchise was for television. A pilot focusing on Murphy’s character’s son was produced for CBS in 2013, but the network chose not to pick up the show.

The original Beverly Hills Cop was released in 1984, and it was the most successful movie of that year. It was followed by two sequels in 1987 and 1994.

Bleeding Edge, the upcoming team-based brawler from Hellblade developer Ninja Theory, will be released on March 24, 2020. At least that’s the case according to a Microsoft Store page that mistakingly went live a bit too early today.

The page has since been taken down, but True Achievements managed to spot it and grab all of the relevant details. Prior to the game’s release on March 24, the store page notes that there will be two closed betas for Xbox Game Pass members and those who pre-order. The first beta kicks off on February 14, with another following on March 13.

Credit to Eurogamer for the screengrab.

Those who do pre-order or play Bleeding Edge on Xbox Game Pass before March 31 will also gain access to the Punk Pack, which contains three fighter skins for character’s Nidhoggr, Buttercup, and Zero Cool. The pack also includes a “Make Your Mark” in-game sticker pack, three bonus taunts, and Rioter’s Hoverboard.

Bleeding Edge was originally revealed during Microsoft’s E3 2019 press conference earlier this year. The online mechanically-enhanced brawler is an obvious departure from Ninja Theory’s previous work, which includes single-player action games like DmC: Devil May Cry and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West.

X019 kicks off later today, so Bleeding Edge is likely to appear at the show with an official release date announcement. Keep your eyes peeled on GameSpot for all of the news from Microsoft’s show.