Month: April 2020

Once you complete Final Fantasy 7 Remake once, you’ll unlock a tougher challenge: Hard Mode. This version of the game requires you to be on your toes in every single battle, while taking away some of the key elements you might have relied upon in Normal Mode to get you through. Hard Mode is the only way to fully upgrade your weapons with Manuscripts, unlock the toughest boss battles in the game to earn its best accessory, and get the chance to make choices that will let you see additional scenes.

We have some essential tips that will help you best all the amped-up foes you’ll face in Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s Hard Mode. And if you want more, we’ve got tons of FF7 Remake guides, walkthroughs, tips, and analysis.

1. Conserve MP

That means you’ll want to conserve MP as much as possible; only use spells when you absolutely must, and save most of your MP for healing spells, as without items, you’re locked out of replenishing HP or reviving downed teammates in almost any other way. Using MP Up Materia can help you get more MP out of your teammates, but you’ll want to consider carefully which character you use for which magic job. Try to remember ways to game the system, too: Aerith’s Arcane Ward doubles your spell output for the same cost and her Siphon Soul ability steals MP from enemies. Some weapon upgrades cut down on spell costs, too, which can be seriously beneficial.

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Ricky Gervais’ Netflix show After Life recently returned for a second season, but whether or not it will get picked up for a third go-around has not been confirmed at this stage.

In a Periscope Q&A, Gervais said Season 3 is not guaranteed. The comedian and actor–who wrote and directed all episodes of After Life–said he has “ideas” for what could happen next. A Season 3 would be notable in part because no show that Gervais created has ever moved beyond two seasons. “I don’t know. I’ve got ideas for it. I’d love to do a Season 3, for the first time ever,” Gervais said.

The actor said the response to After Life Season 2 has been incredibly positive so far. If the show continues to get buzz and eyeballs, Netflix might pick it up for another season.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and the battle royale game Warzone are offering double XP this weekend, developer Infinity Ward has announced. The double XP event begins on May 1 and runs through the weekend, across PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

The double XP will apply to both standard XP progression across all playlists, as well as weapon XP. Additionally, the double XP covers progression through the battle pass tiers.

In other news, Modern Warfare/Warzone is adding a new feature with Gunsmith Customs, which will give players more freedom to mix and match their weapon blueprints..

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Fallout and Elder Scrolls company Bethesda is making a substantial donation to the ongoing COVID-19 relief efforts. The company is donating a total of $1 million to multiple charities, including Direct Relief and UNICEF.

“With the impact of this health crisis being so great and widespread, we want to help by donating to an array of international and local charities which are directly involved with COVID-19 relief efforts,” the company said in a news release.

$500,000 will be given to the Direct Relief charity, which, among other things, provides protective equipment for healthcare workers. $250,000 will go to UNICEF, which provides humanitarian aid around the globe. And another $250,000 will be given to charities that are local to Bethesda’s various studios. “These recipients will be chosen by our individual studios and international offices. This way we can support worthy charities fighting COVID-19 in our local communities across the world,” the company said.

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As of right now, Twitch seems to be down. In a brief statement made over Twitter, Twitch said it is “investigating an issue that is causing the site not to load properly.” There is currently no update on when the issue may be fixed.

If you log onto Twitch right now, you’re able to load the homepage fairly easily. However, trying to watch a livestream will likely just bring up a black screen. It doesn’t matter whether you’re subscribed to the channel or not–currently, all of Twitch seems to be unwatchable. Chat isn’t working either.

Just prior to this, Twitch went down for scheduled maintenance. Starting on April 27 at 3 AM PT / 6 AM ET, certain Twitch channels were unable to go live or their broadcasts were simply not available. Twitch has not announced whether there is any direct correlation between the scheduled maintenance and today’s issues.

Pokemon Go‘s servers appear to be down, effectively preventing the game from being played. Numerous reports are streaming in on places like Reddit and Twitter, and while the particular problems vary, the end result is the same.

Some players have posted screenshots showing that their GPS signal can’t be found, while others simply see nothing on the in-game map. In general, game elements aren’t loading properly.

As of yet, there’s no official word from the Pokemon Go Twitter account or Niantic Help support account, but we’ll report back when we learn more.

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JBL is finally getting into the gaming business. The longtime speaker manufacturer will launch its “Quantum” line of gaming audio gear this spring, including seven gaming headsets at various price points, and a desktop speaker set. At the top of the heap, the Quantum One shows that it has what it takes to compete and excel as a headset-maker. Pumping out a quality sound and delivering top-of-the-line bells and whistles like head-tracking and active noise canceling, the Quantum One shows that JBL knows exactly how to calibrate its audio expertise for gaming.

Design and Features

The Quantum One’s headset design splits the difference between “gamer” style and traditional, minimalist audio look to create a synthy soft-cyberpunk aesthetic. Though the body is made from molded black plastic, the Quantum has colorful accents scattered all over – a bright orange “R” and “L” painted on the fabric in the earcups and a three-part RGB lighting scheme on the sides of the cans.

It also has a solid fit, if a bit on the loose side. The top band is pretty wide, so while there is some pressure keeping the headset in place, it doesn’t feel like you’re getting squeezed. Though it was a great fit for me, I could also see it feeling a bit loose on smaller heads. Both the top band and earcups are well padded with leatherette-covered synthetic memory foam cushioning: Though it looks like it should be heavy, the 369 grams never weighed me down.

Looking closer at the cans, there are a lot of inputs and I/O. Everything is on the left side, including a robust suite of on-set controls: Mic mute button, a volume dial, a quick head-tracking recalibration button, and a “talk through” button to disable the active noise canceling. You also have the ports for the mic, a 3.5mm jack for a direct connection on consoles, and a USB-C port for connecting via USB, which you’ll need to use the head-tracking. The USB-C to USB-A cable also features a simple chat/game-audio mixer, which comes in handy when calibrating audio in multiplayer.

Speaking of which, the Quantum One’s active noise-canceling feels like a huge upgrade, even if it isn’t new or innovative technology. Active Noise Canceling, which plays a low-frequency tone to block ambient sound, is relatively common in high-end headphones, but rarely finds its way into gaming headsets. It should, though: Blocking outside noise makes it easier to hear the nuances of the sound of a game (or music, or Netflix). Even when playing alone in a quiet room, it blocked the sound of my PC’s or console’s fans: I didn’t realize how distracting that sound could be until I worked for a week without hearing it.

Inside the cans, the Quantum One sports 50mm drivers, which deliver a polished, sharp sound. There are specs that support this, in theory, though I’d argue there isn’t any one element that directly translates to a better sound: At 114 dB, the Quantum One has a higher sensitivity than the average headset, which means it’s coming in louder (and possibly clearer) even at lower volume. It has the same 20-40,000Hz “Hi-Res” frequency response that you tend to find in high-end headphones, but rarely in gaming headsets. These are strong indicators of quality, but ultimately the proof is in the sound. Where many headsets, even good ones, come in a bit bassy and can get a little fuzzy when there’s too much going on, everything that comes through the Quantum One feels balanced and clear.

Maybe the one real low point on the Quantum One is its detachable microphone. The short, bendable boom is covered with a rubbery plastic that doesn’t feel like a high-grade product. It works fine, but it’s just fine. I generally have a hard time getting a headset mic right where I want it, but it can be especially tough to find the best placement with the Quantum One mic because you don’t have much bendable arm to work with.

Software

JBL created a new configuration app, QuantumEngine, for its Quantum line of gaming headsets. The app allows you to adjust the audio mix in the headphones, and save custom audio profiles, in addition to the pre-made settings available out of the box. For the Quantum One, the app is essential, as it allows you to calibrate the headset’s head-tracking and spatial audio, and configure the RGB lighting on the cups.

QuantumEngine looks clean and is easy to navigate. The areas of customization are clearly broken down, and each category fits on a single panel. And yet there are a surprisingly large number of settings to tweak. When looking at the Sphere360 spatial audio, you can adjust virtual speaker positions, your body height and head diameter to perfect how the simulated sound hits you. Where most headsets with RGB lighting have a single glowing element, the Quantum has three customizable areas which can be set to follow many of the same patterns found on keyboards and mice.

That said, JBL is clearly still working some of the kinks out of the software. For much of my testing, the head-tracking seemed to lose track of its alignment very easily. This seems to have been fixed with a recent patch, but I still find it needs to be calibrated on startup. It’s very easy to calibrate and only takes a moment, but having to take that step every time feels like an imposition.

Gaming

The most important thing about any gaming headset is how it sounds. Over the course of a few weeks, I tested the Quantum One with a few games across PC, Xbox One, and PS4, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Doom Eternal, Teamfight Tactics, Ori and The Will of The Wisps, and Nioh 2.

In general, the Quantum One outputs clear, nuanced soundscapes. The bass booms. The mids sing. The highs whine. Even when using a direct 3.5mm connection, which does not allow for 7.1 surround sound or head-tracking, you hear a complete version of the music and sound effects that you may not get on cheaper audio gear (like your TV’s speakers). You get most out of the difference in sound quality, I think, in a game like Doom Eternal, where you really want to hear every guitar lick, but also need to clearly pick up the crackling sound of a fireball whizzing towards your head.

The surround sound, particularly when combined with the spatial audio and head-tracking software on PC, is very precise. You can follow an enemy’s movements in Modern Warfare by following their footsteps. It’s particularly cool to notice how the sound positions to match your head movements IRL. Saying that these features work exactly as they’re supposed to doesn’t necessarily sound like high praise, but it is. Stable, reliable positional audio builds immersion in a subtle, but also amazing way.

Purchasing Guide

The JBL Quantum One gaming headset will be available at major electronics retailers for $299 starting May 4, 2020.