Month: November 2020

Xbox Series X’s Quick Resume feature, which is also available on the Xbox Series S, is arguably its most ‘magical’ new offering. It allows you to quickly swap between multiple games without booting them up fresh, and resume playing from where you left off. It’s perfect for getting a few rounds of Halo in with your friends between longer stretches of a big campaign game, without losing progress. The best bit, though? Quick Resume remembers where you were even if you unplug the console.

So how do you use it? Quick Resume doesn’t require any set up. It’s part of the default feature set of the Xbox Series X|S, and works from the moment you open a game. To ‘engage’ Quick Resume, simply stop playing a game and head back to the Dashboard. Boot up a second game, play around with that for a while, and then re-open your previous game. A ‘Quick Resume’ logo will appear in the upper-right corner of the screen as the game loads, which takes around five or so seconds. You’ll then find yourself in exactly the same spot as you were when you left the game. Recent games primed for Quick Resume can be identified in the Guide Menu by a small icon next to the game name.

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You can have multiple games ‘stacked’ in Quick Resume, but there is a limit. While Microsoft has not revealed an upper limit, I find that the system caps out at five games, with the game I haven’t played in the longest time being the one that has to boot from scratch again. It may be that this limit depends on the games being stacked, though.

Most impressive, though, is Quick Resume’s ability to activate after the Xbox has been fully shut down and unplugged or turned off at the power outlet. As an example anecdote, I was able to Quick Resume a game of Gears Tactics that I hadn’t touched for several days, during which the console was fully powered down and unplugged multiple times.

Also anecdotally, the system hasn’t been 100% reliable, with a couple of games during testing eventually resetting after a full unplugged power down, but as my testing has been conducted pre-release there may still be kinks in the system that will be ironed out before retail launch. For the most part, though, Quick Resume after unplugging has worked as intended, and it’s as impressive (and witchcraft-like) as it sounds.

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Our testing has also shown us exactly how the Xbox Series controller’s new Share button works, and that the Xbox Series S will have 364GB of usable storage space.

We’ve reviewed both new Xbox consoles today. We awarded Xbox Series X an 8/10 review, calling it “a quiet, compact, laser-targeted games machine that should make 4K/60fps gaming the wonderful new norm, but it currently lacks must-play games.” Series S got a 7/10 review, saying it “could shine as a second console, but it’s hard to recommend as your primary gaming platform due to its 1440p resolution and claustrophobic storage capacity.”

The Xbox Series X and S are coming on November 10. Xbox Series X retails at $499 USD / £449 / $749 AUD, while Xbox Series S comes in at $299 USD / £249.99 / $499 AUD. Xbox Series X and S are currently sold out ahead of launch but, with more units promised, keep an eye on our Xbox Series preorders page – and if you want to know everything about the consoles before you nab one, we have our Xbox Series X and S guide.

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Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Entertainment Writer.

 

The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S both have a new, improved controller that features a Share button. This new button, located under the Menu and View buttons, allows you to instantly capture moments of gameplay, without the need to scroll through menus or use any voice commands. Need to know exactly how it works? IGN is here to help.

By default, tapping the Share button once will immediately take a 4K screenshot of whatever is on your screen at that moment. Holding the Share button for a few seconds will record a 1080p video of the last 30 seconds of gameplay, a feature known as ‘Record what happened’. You’ll know when these functions have triggered as an Xbox notification will pop up to tell you that the screenshot/clip has been saved to your library.

You can quickly find your newly saved screenshots and clips by opening the Capture & Share menu. Tap the Xbox Guide button on the controller to open the Guide Menu, and you’ll see a notification indicator over the tab on the right of the window that features the same logo as seen on the Share button. This is the Capture & Share menu, and if you scroll over to it you’ll be able to see your new screenshot/clip in the ‘Recent Captures’ section.

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The Capture & Share menu can be used to take screenshots and capture a clip of gameplay, too, if you’d rather not use the Share button. It can also be used to start a recording if you plan on capturing a longer session than the few seconds saved by the ‘Record what happened’ function of the Share button.

Additionally, the Capture Settings menu allows you to reconfigure what the Share button does. If you find you prefer to capture longer sessions, you can re-assign a long press of the Share button to start recording, rather than capture the most recent few seconds. ‘Record what happened’ can also be changed to record either the last 15, 30, 45, or 60 seconds of gameplay. This gameplay can be recorded in 1080p or 720p, but only in SDR.

Once you have a fair few games installed, you might need to keep an eye on how much space you have for captures, however. We now know that Xbox Series S will have 364GB of usable storage space, while Xbox Series X will have 802GB available.

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In other Xbox Series news, we’ve also explained how the excellent Quick Resume function will work, even if you unplug the console.

We’ve reviewed both new Xbox consoles today. We awarded Xbox Series X an 8/10 review, calling it “a quiet, compact, laser-targeted games machine that should make 4K/60fps gaming the wonderful new norm, but it currently lacks must-play games.” Series S got a 7/10 review, saying it “could shine as a second console, but it’s hard to recommend as your primary gaming platform due to its 1440p resolution and claustrophobic storage capacity.”

The Xbox Series X and S are coming on November 10. Xbox Series X retails at $499 USD / £449 / $749 AUD, while Xbox Series S comes in at $299 USD / £249.99 / $499 AUD. Xbox Series X and S are currently sold out ahead of launch but, with more units promised, keep an eye on our Xbox Series preorders page – and if you want to know everything about the consoles before you nab one, we have our Xbox Series X and S guide.

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Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Entertainment Writer.

I was especially excited to play NBA 2K21 on PS5 because it is one of just a couple next-gen launch games that is being built specifically for the new consoles. Yes, 2K21 is out right now on PS4, but the next-gen edition of the popular basketball sim is a new, built-from-the-ground-up version that has unique tech, modes, and features. Developer Visual Concepts took the same next-gen-do-over approach last time around with NBA 2K14, and the PS4 version ended up being pretty bare-bones next to that year’s PS3 game. Not so with 2K21. It’s got everything that’s in the current-gen version now and more, including a bold new City mode and deeper WNBA integration.

But first, let’s talk about the most fun part of any sports game’s generational transition: the graphics. The native 4K/60fps presentation in NBA 2K21 is impressive. Among the few dozen launch titles across both the PS5 and the Xbox Series X, this might be the one you fire up first to show off your new next-gen console’s horsepower. Animations are much better, with foot planting and momentum being key areas of improvement. Players also now take procedural steps instead of just canned animations, which leads to less “skating.”

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Player faces are, of course, more detailed than ever, and a little thing that sells it is that everyone else looks much better now too, from the crowd (which finally has kids in it!) to the referees, people at the scorer’s table, dance team, mascots, mop boys, cameramen, security guards, etc. Visual Concepts says they’ve added custom AI routines for 150 NPCs in the arena’s lower-bowl. More obviously, they’ve even added an entire second play-by-play broadcast team led by Brian Anderson and Grant Hill.

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In short, the whole look of NBA 2K has a much more holistic feel compared to the current-gen versions. 2K Studio Art Director Anton Dawson told me that the team has a brand-new set of tools to scan player faces and capture arena lighting, and they’ve been working on the next-gen version since midway through 2K20’s development. In short, just about everything about the way players are brought into the game and then rendered and lit has changed, and you can see the results on the screen.

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Outside of the simulation, NBA 2K21 next-gen’s big new idea is The City. It’s billed as the next step after Neighborhood, and it is an actual open-world where you can walk around, join one of the four affiliations, and compete in one-on-one (or bigger team) events. You get around it on foot, skateboard, or bike. There are shops, pickup courts, and more. There’s even a FourSquare-esque feature that allows you to run for mayor of each district, complete with in-game polling places to vote at every six weeks when new elections are held. The four mayors then get to curate matchup soundtracks, design their affiliation’s courts, and customize the look of their district. Hundreds of players will walk around at a given time, though when I jumped into the preview build, only a couple of QA testers were milling about. Still, it’s a fascinating feature if Visual Concepts can pull it off.

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The new 2K also doubles down on its WNBA integration. You’ve got a full MyPlayer career mode available now, plus a full online league option. I played a bit as the Phoenix Mercury, aka my only Arizona pro sports team actually capable of winning a championship, and sure enough these women move differently and play differently compared to the men, as they should. Visual Concepts’ quest for authenticity here seems genuine, which 2K says is owed to the women and men on the team who are big WNBA fans themselves.

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And back on the men’s side, MyCareer offers a new story mode called Long Shadow, which introduces the G League as another big career path option alongside college. Humorously, various nemeses from MyCareer modes in previous years return here as teammates on your G League squad, complete with plenty of off-court drama that’s bound to follow.

It’ll be interesting to see how NBA 2K21’s fresh start on next-gen comes together. My hour or so of hands-on time was very encouraging, but things like The City will need to be experienced with a full and active community of real-life players. NBA 2K21 will be out on Xbox Series X on November 10 and on PS5 on November 12.

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Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan, catch him on Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.

A day after winning her second term in the US House of Representatives, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has revealed that another Twitch stream is in the works–though first, she needs a nap.

AOC made waves in the gaming world when she sat down for her first Twitch stream in late October, playing Among Us with fellow Representative Ilhan Omar, as well as popular streamers including Pokimane, DrLupo, and more. Her stream reached a peak of over 430,000 concurrent viewers, and when combined with other co-streamers figures, likely reached over 700,000 viewers at its peak.

After her domination on stream, AOC celebrated another victory in this week’s election, breezing into her second term in the US House of Representatives over a Republican challenger with over $10 million backing his campaign.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

While Steam already gives developers tools for pre-release testing in its Early Access program, Valve is introducing a new way for developers to get their games tested with Playtest. The new system will allow devs to manage testing periods without handling keys or mailing lists.

The new feature has gamers sign up for a test on a game’s Steam page, with all the management happening directly through Steam. It looks like an easy, more simplified way to handle testing, which should be useful for indie developers with smaller teams.

Playtest allows devs to control how many people can access the playtest at once, while automatically registering interested users on a standby waiting list. Then, the developer can automatically add more users to the test or simply end the test as needed.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

A new patch is coming to NHL 21 on November 5, and it’s a big one. The newest update for PS4 and Xbox One makes a series of changes to gameplay, physics, goalies, and AI, while it also makes many improvements to various modes such as Be A Pro, Hut Rush, and World of Chel.

The AI changes will make the computer-controlled skaters more skilled with things like improved weak side defender coverage when in front of the net and better defensive positioning when defending a rush. As for the general gameplay changes, players should expect to have a tougher time scoring goals when shots are taken from “non-ideal” locations. Additionally, puck pickup animations are now better around the net, while instances where tall players struggled to pick the puck up have been addressed.

In terms of the presentation, the center ice layouts for the Arizona Coyotes, Calgary Flames, and Ottawa Senators has been updated, while a series of new uniforms are now available covering teams in the NHL, as well as various international leagues.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Spelunky 2 has had another update, and it’s made some big changes that will make some parts of the game a little easier, and others, perhaps, a little harder. Patch 1.15.0 is now available on Steam and PS4. The biggest changes have been applied to the Olmec boss fight, although whether they help you beat the fight or not will depend on how you usually fight it.

The Olmec boss fight has been tweaked so that the boss will now only throw bombs at a player when they are below him. This means that bombs are only thrown when they might do some damage, which could make it harder to take Olmec down. However, the floaters sent out by the boss have had their HP reduced down to 1HP, so they’ll be easier to take down now.

Layer doors have also been added on the right in Olmec’s level.

The patch contains a long list of fixes and changes, too. The physics are now a bit more forgiving and less likely to crush players, and players will find that grabbing something in a hurry is now more responsive. Some other changes target exploits, like spamming the attack while climbing.

Here’s the full list of changes and tweaks introduced in this update.

Spelunky 2 Patch 1.15.0 Notes

• Olmec will now throw bombs in phase 2 only if the player is below him
• Reduced Olmec’s floaters life to 1HP
• Added layer doors to the right part of Olmec’s level
• Added leaderboard blocking: see filters/depot_filters files after accessing in-game leaderboards
• Physics should no longer crush the player as easily as before
• Trying to quickly pick something up should now be more responsive
• Bombs can now be tossed while the player is holding one in their hands
• Players can now grab ladders and ropes while attacking
• Fixed Vlad’s cape behavior on the quicksands
• Dismounting in the air after the mount’s second jump while wearing Vlad’s Cape won’t make the mount jump a third time
• Pressing down+rope should now send ropes downward without having to crouch first
• Fixed issue where the attack could be spammed while climbing
• Players should no longer be able to change directions while attacking while falling
• Fixed some weird issues when tossing stuff diagonally with the pitcher’s mitt
• Fixed issue where players could shoot when leaving through the exit door while on a mount
• Fixed issue where dropping a bomb with the pitcher’s mitt was being done with too much force (even breaking regenerative blocks)
• Fixed issue where the bear trap’s gold nugget seemed to fly after triggering the trap
• Prevented a hard boss from processing a specific projectile if it doesn’t see the projectile
• Track Star achievement will now try to re-unlock on just beating 30 seconds mark
• Fixed jetpack
• Fixed powderkeg journal’s unlock on whipping it
• Ghist shopkeeper journal’s entry will no longer unlock if entering uncursed
• Fixed mummy’s journal entry unlock on killing it with a bomb
• Fixed Duat’s dust wall rendering
• Prevented duplicate characters when using the random option on the quick select
• Fixed Arena’s crash when multiple players played with the same characters
• Fixed lasers’ infinite generation issue in the last game theme
• Fixed issue with music not playing properly when reaching Olmec through the first shortcut
• Profile Win% now takes all kinds of wins into the equation
• Fixed issue when pushblocks spawned right in front of arrow traps
• Shields will now protect from firebug flames
• Paste bombs should no longer bounce off of corners
• Fixed punish ball interaction with pipes
• Fixed issue where Dice shops could sometimes soft lock
• Prevented soft-locks on being thrown by a vendor or yeti with the punish ball
• Fixed issue where certain corners could mess with the jetpack and other stuff
• Players will no longer be considered vegan if they consume the elixir
• Prevented vendors from angering when touching a level generated cobweb
• The player ghost is now able to flip and shake during the dash
• Prevented magmamen from spawning on a tile of lava where they immediately fall down
• Made cursed pots a lot less likely to be accidentally destroyed on Neo Babylon
• Fixed punish ball behavior in the Tiamat’s special exit
• Star challenge generation should now be guaranteed
• Prevented some projectiles from tossing stuff backwards
• Adjusted grabbing point for climbing gloves and climbable entities
• Hard Boss will no longer destroy metal or light arrows stuck to walls
• Fixed first theme boss rolling up the side of the level
• Fixed floating orbs’ collisions
• Fixed issue where spikeballs damaged players before moving
• Fixed coop crash when flag carrier wasn’t the first player and Hired Hand carried the idol to the exit
• Fixed UFO’s sound in the character selection screen on starting a new game
• Fixed issue when lasers collided with armored Olmites
• Teleporter backpack’s base price is now 12000 (down from 15000)
• Hoverpack’s base price is now 12000 (down from 20000)
• Black Market items are now sold at base price (cheaper)
• Landmines placed or triggered by players will now enrage vendors
• Fixed Yeti Queen incorrectly spawning in the Yeti King’s floor
• Prevented some NPC conversations from being triggered from different rooms
• If a partially blocked door can be entered, it can now be entered from both layers
• Increased gold coins’ shape slightly so they can be pushed away with the whip
• Fixed issue where falling platforms would sometimes break on pets without dealing damage
• Fixed issue when the true crown triggers the teleport while inside a pipe
• Fixed loyalty of cloned players
• Added “back” button hint on the main menu
• Prevented yeti king from freezing the players while they are crossing a door
• Fixed flying arrows with rotation
• Localized some extra texts
• Tossing a cursed pot against a specific enemy during his attack now correctly curses him as well
• Fixed crash when a land mine was brought to the ending sequence
• Fixed some crashes in the Dice shop
• Capped leaderboard resource usage
• Fixed black market issue where the middle row shops were using the wrong floor
• Equippables will now ignite on any magmaman contact
• A certain minister generation should now be guaranteed
• Renamed Bear Trap to Totem Trap
• Renamed Snap Trap to Bear Trap
• Removed a couple of sprite artifacts
• Optimized CPU usage of AI
• Changes to prepare audio system for multi-context update
• Audio system optimizations
• Invalidate input on opening any popup to prevent auto-selection
• Prevented posse rooms in Duat
• Prevented secondary rooms from spawning inside challenge rooms
• Fixed tile for the small sapphire and small ruby