Month: January 2021

If you’re having problems connecting to Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Modern Warfare, or Warzone, you’re not the only one. Activision is currently reporting service outages across each game, affecting every platform, including PSN, Xbox Live, Battle.net, Nintendo, Steam, and Epic Games.

The company is working to correct the issue according to Activision Support on Twitter, pointing players to its Online Services status tracker. The status tracker recommends restarting your router, using a wired connection, checking your connection speed, and limiting applications that take up bandwidth to correct normal service issues, but given the scale of the current outage, these probably won’t do much until Activision addresses the problem.

As of 1:37 PM PT, Activision reported the issue “under investigation.” There are no further updates.

The critically acclaimed story of Ellie and Joel is arriving on HBO. Here’s what we know so far.

On November 20, HBO announced a dramatic series adaptation of 2013 video game The Last of Us. The post-apocalyptic third-person zombie shooter, about a father/daughter relationship and the horrible acts people commit in the name of love, is still considered one of the greatest video games in history.

There’s a bit of irony to this announcement: The original game was already a narrative experience that leaned into cinematic tropes. How would a television series add to this universe? Would it expand on the original characters and their motivations? Would it create new characters and events that we’d never seen before, or would it adhere strictly to its source material? Would it include any material from The Last of Us Part II, the more controversial, harrowing sequel to the original?

We’re slowly getting answers to those questions and more. Here’s everything we know so far about HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us: Part II.

1. Series Release Date

There is no announced release date for The Last of Us on HBO. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has no doubt had an effect on casting, scheduling, and filming. The only new image we have from the production is the above Firefly logo. We will update this gallery as we learn more.

2. Writers

The Last of Us video game was written by Neil Druckmann, the current creative director and co-president of development studio Naughty Dog. Druckmann will be co-writing the HBO show’s pilot with Craig Mazin, who gained critical acclaim for his writing and direction on HBO mini-series Chernobyl.

In an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live, Mazin assured fans that he plans to remain true to both the events and the spirit of the video game:

“I think fans of something worry that, when the property gets licenced to someone else, those people don’t really understand it, or are going to change it,” said Mazin. “In this case, I’m doing it with the guy who did it, and so the changes that we’re making are designed to fill things out and expand, not to undo, but rather to enhance.”

3. Director

Johan Renck, who directed Chernobyl, was originally slated to direct the pilot, but he had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict. It is unknown who will replace him.

4. The Plot

The plot synopsis that WarnerMedia gave in its press release hews very closely to the game’s plot: “The story takes place twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse across the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.”

According to Mazin, one of the goals of the series is to show us events and characters that we didn’t experience or meet in the game–implying that they will not alter the game’s central plot, only flesh them out and give them additional context.

If you’re a Stephen King fan, a good way of thinking about this is by thinking about his post-apocalyptic novel The Stand, first released in 1978, and later re-released in 1990 as a “Complete and Uncut Edition.” In his preface for the latter, King made the following explanation to readers who were thinking about purchasing the latest edition:

“You will not discover old characters behaving in new ways, nor will the course of the tale branch off at some point from the old narrative, taking you, Constant Reader, in an entirely different direction. This version of The Stand is an expansion of the original novel. As I’ve said, you won’t find old characters behaving in strange new ways, but you will discover that almost all of the characters were, in the book’s original form, doing more things, and if I didn’t think some of those things were interesting—perhaps even enlightening—I would never have agreed to this project.”

5. Confirmed Characters

Aside from the plot synopsis, which namechecks Joel and Ellie, there are no official reports on the characters that will appear in the drama. But back in March, Neil Druckmann responded to an HBO tweet by namechecking Ellie, Riley, Tess, Marlene, Maria, and a name that he edited out. The tweet was sent several months prior to the release of The Last of Us Part II, implying that the missing name was a character from the forthcoming sequel.

From this, we know that pretty much everything, plotwise, is on the table. Riley’s presence means that the prequel Left Behind is fair game–perhaps there will be flashbacks to when Ellie was infected? And the presence of Maria also implies the presence of Tommy, Joel’s younger brother.

And as for the missing name? Perhaps it could be Dina or Abby, especially if this series is a hit and HBO orders another season.

6. LGBT Inclusion

Ellie is gay, as revealed in the Left Behind DLC. In a response to a tweet by a concerned fan, Mazin gave his word that the HBO series would not change or retcon Ellie’s sexual orientation.

7. Returning Composer

Per a tweet by Neil Druckmann, Gustavo Santaolalla, who composed the scores for The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II, will also be composing music for the new series.

8. Casting

There have been no concrete announcements beyond the report of the series order. Castings have been rumored, but unconfirmed. Maisie Williams and Kaitlyn Dever, whose fans on Twitter have suggested them for Ellie, stated publicly that they would love to perform the role.

Treyarch is teasing more content for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s Zombies mode. The studio tweeted out an image of what appears to be a new map, alongside the caption “Projekt Endstation was only the beginning.”

Projekt Endstation, which is German for Project Terminus, was the Nazi research program featured in Black Ops Cold War’s Zombies. It introduced the new map Die Maschine. Players believe this image is a brand-new map, rather than an updated version of one seen in Zombies before.

Treyarch has promised that more content would be coming to Black Ops Cold War’s Zombie mode. The mode has been a bright spot for the game after players have complained that the standard multiplayer modes aren’t as sharp as the ones in Modern Warfare. Call of Duty fans have also been unhappy with how Black Ops Cold War has impacted Warzone.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Cobra Kai has been renewed for a fourth season on Netflix. Dave and Chris give their predictions on what will happen in Season 4!

The new RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 3070, and RTX 3080 video cards that were released late last year have been extremely popular, and justifiably so. They offer substantial performance increases over the RTX 20XX video cards without any price bump. Unfortunately, that means that demand has been extraordinary. For those of you who prefer to build your own PC, it’s nigh impossible to score any of these cards at MSRP. That doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t score these cards at all. PC manufacturers have first dibs on RTX 30XX inventory and thus they’re able to sell prebuilt computers equipped with these video cards. Below are all the configs we’ve found that are orderable. Some ship out within the week while others require a wait time. Check them out below.

Dell and Alienware RTX 30XX Gaming PCs

Alienware gaming PCs are generally more expensive than most other brands, but you get what you pay for in terms of quality and customer support. Unlike most other vendors, Dell designs its own cases and cooling systems. Their desktops (especially the entire Alienware lineup) feature great build quality and brand-name components. Dell’s customer service is also considered one of the best in the business, especially if you opt for the higher tiered packages.

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HP RTX 30XX Gaming PCs

HP OMEN PCs offer high quality construction at a price that usually beats out most other competitors. Like Dell, HP designs their own chassis. The OMEN 30L and 25L gaming PCs are understated yet very well built. They’ve been around for a while and their customer service is reliable.

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Skytech RTX 30XX Gaming PCs

The Skytech brand isn’t that well known, but their prices and availability are what makes them stand out. You can potentially order an RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 3070, or RTX 3080 gaming PC from Amazon and receive it by the end of the month. Because Skytech sources its parts depending on what’s cheapest at the time, the brand and model of individual components can differ from system to system. This is a common practice among many boutique vendors and is what allows them to keep prices low. For a prospective buyer who is budget conscious, this is a great way to get a high-end system at a lower price.

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ABS RTX 30XX Gaming PCs

Much of what can be said about Skytech can be said about ABS. Whereas Amazon carries most of Skytech’s RTX 30XX inventory, Newegg is the premier purveyor of ABS computers.

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Corsair RTX 30XX Gaming PCs

Corsair PCs feature top-shelf components because, obviously, most of it is Corsair branded. Unfortunately, stock is very limited.

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iBuyPower RTX 30XX Gaming PCs

iBuyPower is a boutique vendor that caters almost exclusively to the gamer. You can pick out one of the preconfigured options like the ones below, but their claim to fame is the almost unlimited amount of customizability. Of course, that freedom comes at a price. The options below ship faster than customized configs and are discounted as well.

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CyberPowerPC RTX 30XX Gaming PCs

CyberPowerPC is another boutique gaming PC vendor. The prices rival that of iBuyPowerPC, especially if you pick one of the preconfigured options.

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Eric Song is IGN’s deal curator and spends roughly 1/4 of his income on stuff he posts. Check out his latest Daily Deals Article and subscribe to his IGN Deals Newsletter.