Author: trafficblast

Today’s deal of the day at Amazon is a good one for anyone who enjoys candy. It’s also good for anyone planning on providing sugary treats in a safe way to tick-or-treaters this year. The online retailer has bulk Hershey candy, including Halloween variety packs, up to 30% off. But grab these deals fast if you want them, because they go away at midnight.

The only problem with this sale is that the candy ships several weeks before Halloween. Might want to order extra to make sure you still have some on hand when the spooky holiday rolls around.

Save Up to 30% Off Halloween Candy

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And while we’re on the subject of Amazon, a reminder that Amazon Prime Day is a two-day event spanning October 13-14. See our full Prime Day rundown for a look at early deals and what to expect once the sale gets in full swing.

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

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Genshin Impact has managed 17 million downloads on mobile alone over the first four days of its release, with analysts estimating that it’s grossed $50 million since launch.

The free-to-play action-RPG arrived on PlayStation 4, PC, iOS and Android on September 28, and mobile analytics company App Annie posted the downloads milestone on Twitter on October 4.

Oct 5 – #AppAnnie‘s #mobile #statoftheday

#GenshinImpact by @mihoyo saw 17 Million global downloadsin its first 4 days! #mobilegaming

Follow us for your daily dose of the latest #mobilestats
https://t.co/an6BE4NU6I to follow @GenshinImpact‘s #appstore rankings

— App Annie (@appannie) October 4, 2020

That huge early uptake means that the game is already a top grossing mobile title in across Asia, and in the US. Speaking to IGN, Daniel Ahmad, Senior Analyst at Niko Partners, estimates that the game has grossed $50 million in its first week, with the majority of that revenue coming from China, Japan, and the US.

“The game had more than 20 million pre-registrations prior to launch, of which more than 5 million were from outside China”, explains Ahmad. “This is a huge achievement not just for a Chinese developed game, but for a new original IP too.”

Genshin Impact has been compared to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild due to its visual aesthetic and design. The game is an open-world action-RPG with gachapon elements, and it has already proven to be quite the success on social media. A Nintendo Switch version is currently in the works too, with a release date unannounced.

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It’s the latest in a series of Chinese games that have caught western attention, which Ahmad says is part of a deliberate attempt to crack new markets: “As the mobile games market matures in China, developers are looking to reach new players, both outside China and on new platforms. Both small and large Chinese studios have been investing in more robust experiences that can scale to console and PC. As many have seen with previously announced games such as Lost Soul Aside, Bright Memory Infinite and Black Myth Wu Kong, Chinese game developers are beginning to make their mark in the West.”

“While the distribution and monetisation model for Genshin Impact are already accepted in China,” Ahmad continues, “the game is popularising AAA free to play and gacha games in the West. [Developer] MiHoYo has worked to ensure that gamers can play the title without needing to pay to progress, while still being able to monetise from those who want to pay and obtain the best characters and equipment earlier.”

If you’re interested in checking Genshin Impact out, take a look at our hands-on preview from March of this year to learn more about how it plays. We’ve also got some Genshin Impact guides to check out if you’re already playing. Here’s the skinny on acquiring wishes and here’s an article explaining how you can play co-op with your friends.

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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Egypt has unearthed 59 ancient mummies from 2,600 years ago and fortunately for Brendan Fraser, no curse has been detected.

Egypt’s Tourism and Antiquities Minister, Khalid el-Anany, announced on October 3 that a team of archaeologists discovered dozens of coffins in a necropolis south of Cairo, according to a report from The Washington Post. This led to the discovery of 59 sealed sarcophagi, many of which had mummies inside. It was determined that these sarcophagi were buried more than 2,600 years ago.

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“I consider this the beginning of a big discovery,” el-Anany said.

That’s because el-Anany said this discovery was just the first of many that he believes will lead to even more sarcophagi from the area. As if Brendan Fraser, who played famed adventurer and tomb raider Rick O’Connell in 1999’s The Mummy, wasn’t already sweating over what might lie within, one of the 59 sarcophagi was opened at a press conference on October 3 to reveal the mummy inside. Fortunately, no curses were released and Imhotep and his army of undead were nowhere to be found.

The mummies were discovered in Saqqara, which is home to 11 pyramids. These sarcophagi were specifically discovered in the Step Pyramid. The burial sites in Saqqara date back to the 1st Dynasty, which ranges from 2921 B.C. to 2770 B.C.E., and to the Coptic period, which ranges from 395 to 492 C.E.

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Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mostafa Waziri, told reporters that the coffins likely belonged to priests and other elite figures of the Pharaonic Late period, which ranges from 664 to 525 B.C.E. These coffins were found with 28 statues of Ptah-Soker, the main god of the Saqqara necropolis, and a 35cm bronze statue of Nefertum, god of the lotus blossom and perfume.

El-Anany said these 59 coffins will join 30 ancient wooden coffins discovered earlier this month in Luxor and all of them will be showcased at the Grand Egyptian Museum currently under construction near the Giza Pyramids.

For more mummies, read about this dinosaur mummy discovered in 2017 and then read about what happened when when a mysterious black sarcophagus was finally opened in Egypt last year.

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Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

After being tracked down and cursed by Captain Lancaster, Diana is pursued by something terrifying. Greg and Meg break down the plot, Easter eggs and references in Episode 8, “Jig-a-Bobo”.

The Festival of the Lost, Destiny 2 yearly Halloween event, is back starting October 6. The final holiday event before the release of the Beyond Light expansion on November 10 is free to all players, and revamps some of the aspects that have defined the Festival for the last few years. As usual, you’ll have the ability to dress up and trick-or-treat in-game for the event, gathering candy from activities and other characters and wearing Halloween masks to increase your bounties. But this year’s take on the Festival makes a few small, subtle changes, allowing you to earn both new rewards and new versions of old ones.

Bungie detailed the Festival in a blog post, which explains the tweaks to this year’s festivities. Once again, players will return to a spooky version of Mercury’s Infinite Forest. Dubbed the Haunted Forest, your goal there is to get as far as you can in 15 minutes. Your goal is to kill as many enemies as possible to extend your timer as you work through each of the Haunted Forest’s branches–but you’ll be hunted by some huge unkillable baddies along the way, as well.

Destiny 2 Festival of the Lost Start Time

• October 6, 10 AM PT
• October 6, 1 PM ET
• October 6, 5 PM GMT
• October 7, 4 AM AET

Venturing into the Forest and completing Festival of the Lost bounties will earn you Chocolate Strange Coins, which you can then spend on special Festival rewards. These include a variety of masks of different characters that you’ll be able to wear on a helmet you earn during the Festival. The masks are all armor ornaments for the Masquerader’s Helmet you’ll get from vendor Eva Levante, which means you can wear them without a big Power loss as in previous years. You’ll earn new masks from Eva, and if you have the masks from the 2018 and 2019 Festival of the Lost, you’ll be able to equip those as well.

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Respawn has released the full patch notes for the Apex Legends update that’s going live alongside the upcoming Aftermarket Collection Event, a limited-time event that adds Caustic’s heirloom, legendary cosmetics, a brand-new mode, and cross-play to the battle royale game. The two big standouts in the patch notes are character balancing changes and evo shield adjustments.

In terms of characters, Wraith and Pathfinder get the two big changes this time. Respawn has attempted to nerf both characters numerous times, as both consistently remain top picks for their overall utility and dominance (especially Wraith). “We don’t want to hit [Wraith’s] abilities anymore,” Respawn writes in the patch notes. “We think both she and Pathfinder have been pushed to the edge in terms of cooldown and utility nerfs where pushing them any further would make them a lot less fun to play.”

So instead of adjusting her abilities any further, Respawn is instead changing the interdimensional skirmisher’s running animation–something that has allowed the already tiny legend to become even smaller and harder to hit. The new animations make her “more upright and expose a larger area of her body to gunfire,” which should nerf Wraith a bit by making her easier to hit.

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Microsoft has a big holiday season ahead of itself, with new consoles, accessories, and games on the market. Big games like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Yakuza: Like A Dragon are purported to show off the power of the next-gen Xbox Series X and S consoles, but with Microsoft’s commitment to backwards compatibility, all Xbox One games and a varied library of Xbox 360 and original Xbox titles are also playable on the Series X and S. On top of that, all Xbox One accessories will be compatible with both of the new Xbox consoles, making this console launch particularly exciting–you don’t have to buy a brand-new set of accessories for your loved one if they’re getting a new console.

Unfortunately, the Xbox Series X and Series S are currently sold out after preorders went live on September 22, but it’s possible some consoles will be restocked before the holidays. Microsoft has urged hopeful buyers to sign up for stock updates at major retailers. We’re also tracking Xbox Series X and Series S availability in our preorder guide, where you can quickly check all the main retailer listings.

Even if you can’t get your hands on one of the new consoles just yet, there are still a lot of gift options that would make any Xbox fan happy. From merchandise and accessories to subscriptions and games like Watch Dogs Legion and Cyberpunk 2077, there’s a wide selection of great Xbox gifts available this holiday. And the fact that all Xbox One accessories are compatible with Xbox Series X/S makes it incredibly easy to find a great headset, controller, or anything in between.

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Netflix‘s Alice in Wonderland has cast Sabrina Carpenter (The Hate U Give, Work It) in its upcoming contemporary take on the classic story, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Carpenter will be starring in the production and also producing it under her production company Alloy Entertainment with Leslie Morgenstein (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) and Elysa Dutton (Idiocracy).

Ross Evans, a writer also behind the original musical Catch the Moon, will be writing the screenplay for this new adaptation. Based on the few names associated with the project at this early date, it’s safe to assume that the upcoming update of the Lewis Carroll story will be a musical steeped in the traditional and contemporary traditions of the genre: Carpenter recently made her Broadway debut in Tina Fey’s Mean Girls musical. No release date has yet been given for the Alice in Wonderland update.

Carpenter also stars in Disney+’s upcoming October 16 release Clouds, a musical drama based on Laura Sobiech’s memoir, Fly a Little Higher: How God Answered a Mom’s Small Prayer in a Big Way.

Continue Reading at GameSpot