Category: games

Red … Undead Online? As we approach the Halloween season, which should be quite a bit different than in years past, it appears Red Dead Redemption 2 could be getting zombies in Red Dead Online.

The data-miners at YouTube channel Red Dead Guides have been digging through new game files and discovered nearly 50 different zombie models that haven’t yet been released. As October is arriving soon, this presumably is going to be saved for a “Fear” Halloween event in the game.

The models are labeled “Army of Fear,” but it isn’t clear if they’re being used for a new game mode or for some larger temporary overhaul of Red Dead Online. The game has received continuous content updates that added things like missions, hunting events, and new gear, but this could be enough to get former players interested in the game again.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Microsoft’s xCloud recently exited its testing phase and is now available to Android users with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, but the service isn’t available to iOS users at all. This followed an abruptly cut short test on iOS that only included one game as opposed to the several options Android users had. But this isn’t just Microsoft showing preference toward one ecosystem. Instead, it has to do with Apple’s policies.

Why xCloud Isn’t On iOS

Previously, Apple had extremely restrictive policies on the App Store that essentially barred game-streaming services from appearing at all, which is why Google Stadia has also not been available on iOS since its launch. However, it recently updated its policies to explicitly permit game-streaming services to operate via the App Store.

So, all is good now, right? Not quite. The issue is that these services will need to have separate apps for each individual game purchased in order to comply with Apple’s 30% profit-splitting policy. It’s a similar issue to what we’ve seen with Epic Games and Fortnite, as Epic wished to circumvent the App store for microtransactions and sell these items directly to players.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Following September 16’s PS5 preorder fiasco, which saw the console go on sale at several retailers without proper warning, Sony has offered an apology. It also promises that you haven’t missed out on your chance to get the system this year if you couldn’t snag a preorder earlier.

Writing on its official Twitter account, PlayStation said its preorders could have gone “a lot smoother” and that it would be releasing more of the systems for preorder in the next few days via retailers.

Big stores such as GameStop, Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and Target already began selling the console, with many running out of stock in mere minutes. Some of these stores, including Walmart, have allocated a small amount of systems in the few days since, and Sony also held a lottery of sorts to determine who could order the PS5 directly from the company.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Start planning out space for your PS5 games on the system’s SSD now, because they are going to take up a lot of room. In fact, it might not be too long before you have to start deleting games if the file sizes Sony has revealed are anything to go by.

On the PlayStation Direct website, which lets you buy PlayStation games and accessories directly from Sony, Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Demon’s Souls both have their file sizes estimated. In the case of Spider-Man: Miles Morales, the standard version of the game takes up 50GB, while the Ultimate Edition, which packs in a copy of Spider-Man: Remastered, takes up 105GB. Demon’s Souls, meanwhile, is a full remake of the 2009 PS3 game and takes up about 66GB.

With updates down the line, these file sizes could get even bigger. Games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare have drawn some controversy this generation for ballooning file sizes of well over 100GB, and with higher-resolution textures and more detailed game worlds, that only looks to become more of a problem for PS5. The system’s 825GB capacity is lower than the PS4 Pro, and though it will support expansion cards to increase that storage space, those are expensive and likely out of many users’ budget range.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

The eight generation of home consoles was a strange time for video games. There were a lot of big ideas at play at Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, as each tried to capitalize on a number of developing and receding trends. All three platform holders were trying to set themselves apart, keep up with one another, and determine what might be the next piece of technology that took off among gamers the way motion control had for the Wii. It was a time that led to a lot of gimmicks and ideas that slowly fizzled over the life of the consoles–and others that appeared midway to become pretty successful.

Ahead of the PlayStation 5 and the next generation of game consoles, we’re looking back at some of the best and worst tech ideas of the Playstation 4–from the capabilities of the DualShock 4 controller, to the advent of PlayStation VR. Over the years, there have been some things that worked, plenty that didn’t, and many that were either abandoned or iterated upon.

Sharing And Streaming Become Quick And Easy

If there’s one idea that made sense from the start with the PS4, it’s the console’s simple, easy-to-use sharing controls. Using the DualShock 4 controller’s dedicated Share button, you can snap screenshots while playing, make a recording of whatever just happened in-game, start or stop a recording, and stream to services such as Twitch pretty much instantly. Sony recognized how big a deal streaming games had become in the PS3 era, and included robust, extremely useful content-sharing capabilities for the PS4 in response.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Following the PlayStation’s 5 frustrating preorder process, Sony has apologized and has promised that more will be available to preorder in the next few days and that more will be available “through the end of the year.”

PlayStation took to to Twitter to share the message, saying the “PS5 preorders could have been a lot smoother.”

“Let’s be honest: PS5 preorders could have been a lot smoother,” PlayStation said. “We truly apologize for that. Over the next few days, we will release more PS5 consoles for preorder – retailers will share more details. And more PS5s will be available through the end of the year.”

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Pre-orders, according to Sony, were supposed to begin the day after the PS5 Showcase that revealed the price and release date of the PlayStation 5 alongside Final Fantasy 16, the sequel to 2018’s God of War, Hogwarts Legacy, and much more.

However, retailers began pre-orders that same night, and websites were crashing and many people were left without one, even though Sony had previously mentioned that PS5 preorders would not be a surprise.

Even those who did secure a PS5 preorder weren’t 100% sure they would stick, and retailers like Amazon began sending out e-mails saying it may not be able to deliver them to purchasers on the release day of November 12, 2020.

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Luckily, it appears people will have another chance to secure one for this holiday season. To help ensure you can get a PS5, be sure to follow our PS5 preorder guide and IGNDeals on Twitter for up-to-the-moment alerts on preorders.

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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

To celebrate Batman Day on September 19, HBO Max has released a list of all its streaming Caped Crusader content — from live-action to animation to Batman-adjacent (like 2019’s Joker) — for those looking to spend a few hours absorbing a gallon of Gotham-y goodness.

All-things-Batman on HBO Max:

• Batman, 1989
• Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero, 1998
• Batman & Robin, 1997
• Batman and Harley Quinn, 2017
• Batman Begins, 2005
• Batman Beyond: The Return of the Joker, 2000
• Batman Forever, 1995
• Batman Returns, 1992
• Batman v Superman: Ultimate Edition, 2016
• Batman vs. Dracula, The, 2005
• Batman vs. Robin, 2015
• Batman vs. Two-Face, 2017
• Batman: Assault on Arkham, 2014
• Batman: Gotham Knight, 2008
• Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, 2016
• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1, 2012
• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 2, 2013
• Batman: The Killing Joke, 2016 (HBO)
• Batman: Under the Red Hood, 2010
• Batman: Year One, 2011
• Beware the Batman, 2013
• Harley Quinn (S1 & S2), 2019
• JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time, 2014
• Joker 2019 (HBO)
• Justice League (2017), 2017
• Justice League vs. Teen Titans, 2016
• Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, 2010
• Justice League: Doom , 2012
• Justice League: Gods and Monsters, 2015
• Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, 2013
• Justice League: The New Frontier, 2008
• Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, 2015
• Justice League: War, 2014
• Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes Unite, 2013
• Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs. Bizarro League, 2015
• Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: The Flash, 2018
• Lego Justice League: Cosmic Clash, 2016
• Lego Justice League: Gotham City Breakout, 2016
• Necessary Evil: The Super-Villains of DC Comics, 2013
• Suicide Squad, 2016

DC is also hyping Batman Day promotions and activities (like making your own Bat-Signal) over at BatmanDay.com, including free online issues of Batman: Curse of the White Knight #1, Batman: The Adventures Continue #1 and Batman Tales: Once Upon a Crime.

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Meanwhile, Matt Reeves’ The Batman has resumed filming following its star, Robert Pattinson, completing his quarantine after allegedly being diagnosed with COVID-19.

Looking for a deeper dive into The Batman? Here’s where Joker might fit into the new movie and how Riddler’s riddle from the first trail may have already been solved by fans.

Also, is Paul Dano’s Riddler the one leaving a trail of bodies in Gotham, or is there more to this puzzle than meets the eye?

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Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.

The X-Files-themed Outside In Trusts No One is the seventh volume in the Outside In series of uniquely eclectic critical essay collections on your favorite fictional worlds. When a book contains 156 essays of bewilderingly different styles and approaches, it’s hard to find just one to represent it, but here is just such an excerpt for you to check out!

The new book, according to publisher ATB Publishing, celebrates “over 25 years of The X-Files, and nearly 50 years of Kolchak: The Night Stalker.” Kolchak, of course, was the 1970s spiritual antecedent to The X-Files which inspired creator Chris Carter to make his show. More from ATB:

“Outside In Trusts No One is a collection of 156 reviews, one for every story of each show. Well, we say ‘reviews,’ but we mean that loosely: Within these pages, you’ll find recipes, union meetings, restaurant ads, time loops, mixtapes, personal ads, a thesis, Venn diagrams, musicals, plays, role-playing games, building-code reports and a color-by-numbers game. Not to mention insightful and thoughtful articles, examining the worlds of shadowy conspiracies, UFOs and monsters of the week from just about every aspect imaginable… and then some!”

Previous volumes of the Outside In series have covered classic and modern Doctor Who, Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly. The eighth book, Outside In Wants To Believe, will conclude the examination of the extended X-Files universe in 2021 with the remaining seasons of X-Files not covered in the current volume as well as the spin-offs Millennium, Lone Gunmen, and Harsh Realm. Future volumes already planned will tackle Twin Peaks, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Babylon 5, and a revisiting of classic Who to celebrate 10 years of the Outside In series.

Outside In Trusts No One will be released on October 13, but pre-orders are open now at www.atbpublishing.com/xfiles.

Read on for an excerpt from the book, based on the eighth episode of Season 1, “Ice.”

Pre-order you copy of Outside In Trusts No One now at www.atbpublishing.com/xfiles.

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Editor’s Note: ATB Publishing Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Arnold T. Blumberg is an occasional contributor to IGN.