Month: February 2020

Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which just got a new trailer (see below), is set to release for Nintendo Switch on March 20, 2020. This laid-back game takes place on a deserted island, where you’ll build and maintain a new home, collect resources, and craft all kinds of things to make it feel like your own.

If you’re ready to secure a copy for yourself, you can preorder Animal Crossing: New Horizons right now at select retailers. Here’s everything you need to know to secure a copy at launch.

Preorder Animal Crossing: New Horizons

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• See it at Walmart – $59.99
• See it at Amazon – $59.99
• See it at Best Buy – $59.99
• See it at GameStop – $59.99

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is up for preorder at all the usual retailers for a list price of $59.99.

No Special Editions

Like most Nintendo releases — but unlike many other big games — Animal Crossing: New Horizons will only be available in a standard edition. That means you won’t find any fancy collector’s editions or special editions. On the off chance that changes in the future, we’ll update here.

PowerA Animal Crossing: New Horizons Wireless Controller

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• See it at Amazon – $49.99

While Nintendo itself may not be offering much in the way of Animal Crossing extras, PowerA has this officially licensed controller.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Preorder Bonus

There are no universal preorder bonuses for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but Best Buy is offering a couple of exclusive extras. Preorder from the blue big-box store, and you’ll receive a free Tom Nook “Phone & Tech Badge.” My Best Buy members will also receive a free $10 reward certificate for preordering.

Other Preorder Guides

• Animal Crossing: New Horizons Preorder Guide
• Biomutant Preorder Guide
• Cyberpunk 2077 Preorder Guide
• Darksiders Genesis Preorder Guide
• Destroy All Humans Preorder Guide
• Doom Eternal Preorder Guide
• Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Preorder Guide
• Final Fantasy VII Remake Preorder Guide
• The Last of Us Part II Preorder Guide
• Marvel’s Avengers Preorder Guide
• Nioh 2 Preorder Guide
• Ori and the Will of the Wisps Preorder Guide
• Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Preorder Guide
• Resident Evil 3 Preorder Guide
• Spongebob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated Preorder Guide
• Watch Dogs: Legion Preorder Guide
• Yakuza Remastered Collection Preorder Guide

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Chris Reed is IGN’s shopping and commerce editor. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.

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Sony has submitted a patent for an AI that may be able to help players stuck in a game by pointing them towards items or weapons that may help them overcome their obstacle. This can either be an in-game item or if need be, an item available for purchase.

In a patent filing for something called the “In-Game Resource Surfacing Platform,” Sony describes a scenario in which a player is stuck in a video game that they may need help to overcome. “Many video-games have hundred of thousands of individual items for users to earn, find, or purchase and use within the video game,” it says in the patent description.

The AI tool that Sony is hoping to patent would help search and identify “in-game resources that assist a player based on contextual data and data from a community of similar players.”

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Sony lays out three variations of this tool. One is where the AI identifies the “current state” the player is in while in a game and cross-references it with other players who’ve successfully moved past that point. “[T]he method provides an operation for selecting a resource that is usable by the player to complete the objective based on the one or more resources utilized by respective other players during said successful attempt of completing the objective[.]”

Meaning the AI will find out how other players completed the obstacle and point the stuck players towards that solution. The AI tool may also point players towards an item in a store, in-game or online, that can help complete the objective or even advance the game to a point past the obstacle (a skip, maybe?).

The use of AI during a game session is not new. Ubisoft has rolled out an AI service called Sam which can track progression in games, or check in-game stats. Google Stadia has also promised a feature in the future where players may be able to directly interact with Google Assistant for in-game help.

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Sony’s patent seems at first more localized towards getting players past a certain obstacle, either through in-game or purchasable methods. But there’s a chance the service could expand to provide deeper help. Though there’s always the IGN Wiki guides if you need a leg-up on how to get past certain game obstacles.

The patent was filed last year and published recently. There’s been no public announcement of a new AI tool for Sony games, so this may be a next-gen feature for the PlayStation 5.

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Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.

The most recent update to Star Wars Battlefront 2 added the pair of BB droids, the lovable BB-8 and his evil First Order doppelganger BB-9E. But no droid rolls off the assembly line bug-free, so DICE has announced plans for an upcoming patch that will make some adjustments to the droids among other fixes and balance changes.

The patch notes mention fixes for the BB units having the wrong voiceover lines, and for Grevious’ Claw Rush move sometimes draining opponent stamina. The MC85 Star Cruiser and Resurgent-Class Star Destroyer are both getting improvements to collision detection, visual effects, and lighting.

Some balance changes are coming as well. Those include Battle Point gain reduced by 50% for the Ovissian Gunner, Caphex Spy, Sith Trooper, and First Order Jet Trooper, aligning them with other Reinforcement units. The big bad Darth Vader himself is getting a big bad nerf as well, with damage reduction going from 75% down to 20%.

The update is set to go live on Wednesday, February 12 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. You can check the times and full patch notes below.

Star Wars Battlefront 2 February 12 Patch Times

• PC: 4 AM ET / 1 AM PT
• PS4: 5 AM ET / 2 AM PT
• Xbox One: 6 AM ET / 3 AM PT

Star Wars Battlefront 2 February 12 Patch Notes

• Fixed an issue where the boarding cinematic would be visible when completing the final objective on any of the Capital Ships on Jakku.
• Fixed an issue that would allow the First Order Jet Trooper to dash more than 2 times.
• Fixed an issue where spamming both the main fire and secondary fire keys for BB-8 would drain the stamina quickly, without dealing the appropriate amount of damage
• Fixed an issue where BB-8’s Spinner Star Card would grant 20 seconds of cooldown reduction, instead of 10, on Epic rarity.
• Fixed an issue where there would be no audio playing when inspecting the BB-8 and BB-9E Voice Lines in the Front End menu.
• Fixed an issue where BB-8 and BB-9E would eventually play the wrong VO lines when they were disrupted.
• Various collision, VFX and lighting improvements on the MC85 Star Cruiser and Resurgent-class Star Destroyer.
• Lowered the heat cost for the spool-up functionality on the Heavy Trooper’s Sentry abilities.
• Fixed an issue where General Grievous’ Claw Rush could completely drain the stamina of an opponent.
• Reduced the gain in Battle Points by 50% for the Ovissian Gunner, Caphex Spy, Sith Trooper and First Order Jet Trooper, to be consistent with the other Reinforcements.
• Made improvements to resolve issues with hit registration, despite dodging Lightsaber and melee attacks
• Fixed an issue that would block the VO from the emotes of the Republic Officer on Kamino or Geonosis.
• Fixed a localization issue with the message “First Order Jet Trooper Available” being too long for the kill screen in Japanese.
• Made improvements to resolve visual issues with textures popping-in, when transporting to the capital ships on Jakku, Takodana and Ajan Kloss.
• Lowered the damage reduction on Darth Vader while using Choke from 75% to 20%.
• Updated the mode description for Ewok Hunt.

Respawn Entertainment is feeling the love this Valentine’s, as the studio recently announced that its Duos mode will return to Apex Legends in a limited-time event, Valentine’s Day Rendezvous. This is the first time that Duos has been in Apex Legends since November 2019.

Rendezvous also includes a badge, an XP boost for playing with a buddy, and two new gun charms. Last year’s Valentine’s day items, the Through the Heart Longbow skin and Love of the Game Pathfinder banner, are also available once more at a discount. This event comes in the wake of Apex’s Season 4, which introduced a new Legend, Revenant, a cyber-ninja with talents that improve the survivability of both you and your allies.

Apex’s Season 4 also introduces a whole new Battle Pass and a new weapon, a bolt-action sniper rifle dubbed Sentinel. Respawn has also radically overhauled the popular World’s Edge map with a giant drill that split the terrain in twain. There are also some more granular changes in the patch notes, such as the addition of specialized sniper ammo for the game’s long-range rifles, like the Longbow and Charge Rifle.

Despite confirming that the coronavirus will cause shipping problems in Japan, Nintendo has announced that sales of Switch consoles and accessories won’t be impacted in North America and Europe.

In a statement to Kotaku last week, a Nintendo of America spokesperson said the company does not anticipate the coronavirus having a “significant impact” on the distribution of Nintendo Switch consoles and accessories. This includes pre-orders like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Joy-Con controllers, and more.

“We can confirm that the manufacturing of some Nintendo products for the Japanese market has been delayed due to the impact of [the] 2019-nCoV coronavirus outbreak,” the spokesperson said. “Nintendo does not anticipate a significant impact on our broader global supply chain for systems and accessories at this time, and product sales in North America and Europe, including preorders, are not affected. We would like to express our concern and support for all those affected by the coronavirus during this challenging time.”

Earlier this month, Nintendo said that Switch console and accessory manufacturing would be delayed in Japan because of the coronavirus outbreak. What the company called an “unavoidable” move, a senior analyst at games market research firm Niko Partners told CNBC that the decision could have huge ramifications in the US.

“China is important for manufacturing of some game hardware, phones, and other components, and we believe that the entire supply chain of manufactured goods will be impacted–much more than just games,” Niko Partners’ Daniel Ahmad explained. “When looking at games consoles specifically, we note that 96% of video game consoles imported into the U.S. in 2018 were produced in China. Whilst companies such as Nintendo have moved some manufacturing abroad, China still accounts for the majority.”

The fight continues in Season Two of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, free on all platforms on February 11.

There were a lot of winners at the Oscars, chief among them the Korean film Parasite, which became the first non-English language film to win Best Picture in the history of the ceremony, taking home three other awards in the process. But there was one high-profile project that didn’t get any love from the Academy, among others: Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman.

Its star-studded cast and Scorsese’s reputation as one of cinema’s best living directors led many to lobby for it to win Best Picture, but in the end, the Netflix-produced three-plus hour crime epic didn’t win any Oscars, despite its 10 nominations. That didn’t stop Parasite director Bong Joon-ho from giving Scorsese a shout-out (along with fellow nominee Quentin Tarantino) in his victory speech for Best Director, however.

This is nothing new for Scorsese: he’s been nominated for Best Director 9 times, winning only once, for The Departed, which also won Best Picture. As for The Irishman, it’s in good company–Taxi Driver, arguably Scorsese’s most-acclaimed film, didn’t win any Oscars either. (Raging Bull did, though.)

Over the last few years, critics have lambasted the Academy for not doing enough to celebrate women directors, pointing out that only one woman, Kathryn Bigelow, has won the Best Director award in the entire history of the Oscars. While there are plenty of women directors who could’ve made the cut this year, one name in particular stands out as particularly galling: Greta Gerwig. Her film Little Women was nominated for six different awards, including Best Picture.

Season Two of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare begins tomorrow, February 11. The season offers a brand-new battle pass of rewards to earn, modes to play, challenges to complete, and missions to take on. You won’t get everything on launch day though. In the following article, we list all of the new content that will be available in Modern Warfare on day one of Season Two.

The new season launches with two new multiplayer maps (Rust and Atlas Superstore), a new Ground War map (Zhokov Boneyard), and several new Gunfight maps. You’ll also gain access to two new multiplayer modes–Gunfight Tournaments and Call of Duty League Ruleset Playlist–as well as the Ghost operator. Both the GRAU 5.56 and Striker 45 will be added as new weapons too.

That’s all the new content specifically coming tomorrow. The remaining map, two operators, four modes, and weapon will be added to Modern Warfare later in Season Two. You can see a visual representation of the split in the image embedded below.

The return of Rust is the big content drop for Season Two. For those who don’t know, Rust is another remake of a classic Modern Warfare map. Specifically belonging to 2009’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Rust is modeled off of the Endgame mission from the game’s campaign. It’s a small map, but Rust offers a lot of vertical movement–allowing you to ambush enemies from both above and below.

In GameSpot’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare review, Kallie Plagge wrote, “The pitfalls of Spec Ops don’t detract from what Modern Warfare does well, though. Realism mode is an excellent addition to the slate, and although not all the new multiplayer modes are great, Gunfight and the Night Vision playlist are refreshing standouts. And while the campaign ends up playing it safe in the end, it’s still a memorable one, and it lays a strong foundation for where the Modern Warfare series could go from here.”

Though it’s incredibly obvious–given the annual nature of the franchise–Activision Blizzard has confirmed that a new Call of Duty game is in development and scheduled to release later this year.

Another new Call of Duty game is on the way later this year, but in the meantime, a new season of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is about to kick off very soon. Season 2 of Activision’s hit shooter begins on PS4, Xbox One, and PC tomorrow, February 11, and it’ll bring a new Battle Pass, free maps, modes, and lots of other content over the next few weeks.

First, two new multiplayer maps will be available for all players right from launch day: Rust and Atlas Superstore. The former is a classic battleground originally featured in Modern Warfare 2, while the latter is an entirely new map set in a warehouse. A third new multiplayer map, Khandor Hideout, will also arrive during the season.

On top of that, Season 2 will launch with a new map for both Ground War (Zhokov Boneyard) and Gunfight (Bazaar). Two new multiplayer modes will also be available from the start of the season, including Gunfight Tournaments–a limited-time 2v2 single elimination competition for 32 teams.

Rounding out the launch day content is Ghost, who is being added to Modern Warfare as a playable Operator. Two new free weapons will also be available from the start of the season: the Grau 5.56 and Striker 45.

Developer Infinity Ward will be rolling out even more content during the course of Season 2, including another handful of new modes such as Demolition, Infected Ground War, and NVG Reinforce. This season will also add another two Operators to the mix–Talon and Mace–as well as a new, as-yet-unrevealed weapon. You can read more about Season 2 on Activision’s official website.

As previously mentioned, Season 2 of Modern Warfare will launch alongside a new Battle Pass, which will be split into free and paid tiers. Any near gear that affects the game’s balance–such as the aforementioned Grau 5.56 and Striker 45–will be unlockable through the free tier, while the latter will offer cosmetics, weapon blueprints, XP tokens, and other benefits. Activision is also offering a Battle Pass Bundle, which can be purchased anytime during the season and will grant you 20 Tier skips.

Over the PS4’s lifespan, dozens of DualShock 4 color combinations have been released, but two of the most popular colors have been out of stock for quite some time: the Sunset Orange and Berry Blue controllers. Initially announced back in August 2018, these limited-edition controllers sold out quickly when they first hit the market, and they’ve been hard to find ever since. Fans who couldn’t get their hands on these controllers at the time are in luck, however, as Sony is restocking these shades for a limited time.

Available only in the US and Canada, the Berry Blue and Sunset Orange controllers are selling at full price ($65 each) while supplies last. The striking Berry Blue controller features a turquoise faceplate along with burgundy buttons, joysticks, and backplate. Meanwhile, the Sunset Orange controller feels like it’s channeling Goku with its bright orange faceplate and navy blue features. You can buy them both from PlayStation Direct, but if you prefer to buy from Amazon, the retailer seems to have gotten some stock as well. The two colors are available for Prime shipping, and they’re shipped from and sold by Amazon.

Of course, you might be wondering if it’s worth it to add another DualShock 4 to your collection with PS5 on the way. Unfortunately, we still don’t know enough about PlayStation’s next-gen console, including whether it will be compatible with the DualShock 4. We do know, however, that the PS5 will be backward-compatible with PS4 games, and the newly released back button attachment may be a way of upgrading the DualShock 4’s functionality for next-gen games. With PS5 releasing this holiday season, we’re sure to get more information on the new PlayStation’s compatibility soon.

DualShock 4 – Berry Blue controller | $65

DualShock 4 – Sunset Orange controller | $65

Of course, there are numerous other colors available for the DualShock 4, and many of them are regularly on sale at this point if you don’t want to shell out $65. Amazon has quite a few DualShock 4 color variations available for less than $50, including the stunning Titanium Blue, Magma Red, and Gold shades.