Home Blog Page 720

The Last Of Us Part 2 Wins Big At The Golden Joysticks 2020

0
maxresdefault-2-10

In spite of a polarizing release a few months ago, The Last of Us Part 2 has won the prestigious Game of the Year at this year’s Golden Joystick Awards which is chosen by players. The Naughty Dog exclusive also walked away with a few other awards later that night, so it’s certain that the people have spoken.

After a few developmental push backs, Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part 2 finally released last June, and immediately divided player feedback. While the game got critically acclaimed from a lot of people, it was also roasted by others for various reasons and was even a target of a massive review bombing. Despite the mixed reviews, The Last of Us Part 2 won five of the six nominations it received at the Golden Joystick Awards 2020 award show.

The 38th Golden Joystick Awards, presented by GamesRadar, witnessed The Last of Us Part 2 nominated for six awards. By the night’s end, the game walked away with five awards including the Ultimate Game of the Year, PlayStation Game of the Year, Best Audio, Best Visual Design, and Best Storytelling. Naughty Dog also took home the Studio of the Year award for its amazing work which means The Last of Us Part 2’s big night marked a record-breaking show for the Golden Joysticks.

The only nomination that the game didn’t win that night was the Most Wanted Game, which went to God of War Ragnarok. The Last of Us Part 2 is also nominated for another 10 awards at the upcoming 2020 Game Awards, the most of any title ever.

As expected, the feedback to the news was still mixed, with fans lauding the title’s record-setting achievement, and critics posting screenshots of various negative reviews. It appears that no amount of awards will change the discourse around the game, as everyone doubles down on their opinions from the summer.

With this said, if The Last of Us Part 2 will be having another night just like this at The Game Awards, then Naughty Dog will surely be proving its haters wrong.

Cyberpunk 2077 Includes In-Game Auto-Translation Mod

0
screenshot-www-youtube-com-2020-11-26-22_24_14

Without a doubt, Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the most highly-awaited titles this year, and for many good reasons. Up to this point, there’s already a slew of pre-release details that were revealed by CD Projekt Red for fans to chew on.

Even though there are only a few weeks left until the game’s official release date, the developer still continues to release new and interesting tidbits of information about the upcoming RPG.

Recently, CD Projekt Red released a brand-new gameplay trailer showcasing one of Cyberpunk 2077’s mods. This mod is definitely one of the most interesting ones available in the game, as it auto-translates the different languages V, the protagonist, encounters in-game.

For a few months now, CD Projekt Red has never shied away from releasing in-depth pre-release material such as gameplay trailers and other similar footage that highlight the game’s incredible features.

cyberpunk2077_jacked_in-rgb-en

In Cyberpunk 2077’s most recent gameplay trailer, we get to witness the title’s limitless capabilities as it runs on the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 Pro. However, it appears that excited players were able to glean more than just visual and graphical highlights from this new trailer — other elements of the game were also featured, such as shooting enemies in a moving vehicle.

The gameplay trailer begins with the RPG’s in-depth character customization options before proceeding to the actual gameplay footage. Most of the clips included in the trailer had to do with exploring Night City, reaching a climax where V and their partner Jackie get into a vehicular shootout.

The point of interest here is that Jackie sometimes speaks in Spanish, and most of the time his sentences don’t get translated into English. This doesn’t seem to be the case in the trailer, however, because it appears that V equipped a very useful auto-translation mod that instantly translates Jackie’s Spanish sentences to English in real-time.

As everyone knows by know, Cyberpunk 2077 is set in a futuristic world full of high-tech products. Players will surely be able to take advantage of these technological advancements, and we can imagine that this auto-translation mod will prove to be especially useful as fans progress through the game.

After all, Night City is peppered with a variety of gangs and factions that come from different cultures. As such, not everyone is going to speak English. By using this mod, we can imagine V easily and successfully diffusing heated arguments and misunderstandings caused by language barriers and miscommunication.

That being said, we don’t know just yet just how far CD Projekt Red has allowed this mod to go. However, there’s a chance that one’s gameplay and choices will be affected depending on whether or not V has this mod.

This auto-translation mod might be useful for more than just one thing, but we’ll have to wait until December 10 for the game’s release in order to find out exactly how useful it is. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like Cyberpunk 2077 will be delayed again, as players have begun spotting physical copies of the game in stores.

It’s all about being patient at this point, which we understand can be hard given how excited everyone is to find out more about these incredible mods.

Warframe Finally Coming to PlayStation 5 With Free Exclusive Content

0

Warframe by developer Digital Extremes is finally arriving at the PlayStation 5 later this week, along with several exclusive improvements for the next-gen console that will enhance the gameplay experience. Furthermore, the free-to-play action game will integrate a bundle of freebies for players to commemorate its transition to the next generation of gaming consoles.

Canadian publisher and developer Digital Extremes first launched Warframe on the PC back in 2013. The online multiplayer third-person shooter game was progressively ported to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in the following years.

Players take control of the members of Tenno – a race of ancient fighters who awoke from suspended animation from a future Earth to discover that a war has broken out with various factions in the planetary system.

Since the initial launch of Warframe, it has developed into a massive game that includes 44 Warframes, 30 Quests, three open worlds, and 18 planets. Warframe is now one of the developer’s most successful games with 60 million players.

Digital Extremes revealed this week that Warframe will arrive on the PlayStation 5 this Thursday. The game is guaranteed to take full advantage of Sony’s next-gen hardware by running at 60FPS and 4K resolution.

This should significantly enhance load times, allowing players to easily transfer from town to town. In addition, the Enhanced Renderer will integrate dynamic lighting to render beautiful scenery, while a texture remaster will improve details and coloring. It’s not all just for show as this new experience will lessen the space that Warframe takes up on the SSD.

PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 owners can commemorate Warframe’s upgrades by getting the free PlayStation Plus Booster Pack which includes a Sedai Obsidian Syandana inspired by Sony’s next-gen controller.

The pack also includes a currency and experience booster as well as free and premium credits. Players won’t have to worry about leaving their friends behind, since Warframe is launching cross-gen play on both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.

Xbox One players will sadly have to stick with playing on the current-gen console generation for now, but the development team did tease an Xbox Series X edition is coming soon along with cross-gen play. Warframe is the most recent title to get a major refresh for the new console generation, following closely behind a revelation from Epic Games that it would transition to Unreal Engine 5 by next year to improve Fortnite for the Xbox Series X.

Next-gen improvements are critical for these kinds of online shooting games where there’s a lot going on at once and frame rates indeed make a difference. Warframe should have no problem continuing its success as long as it keeps up with the technology of constantly evolving gaming consoles.

Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town Is Reportedly Almost Done With Development

0
screenshot-www-youtube-com-2020-11-26-21_16_54

Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu is a pretty popular publication, especially for those who enjoy keeping up with highly-anticipated Japanese titles. Now, it appears that Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town was featured in the newest issue, and it was revealed that the farm life simulator is about 80% done.

The four-page Famitsu feature contained not only new, never-before-seen art and screenshots, but it discussed how the game’s development is going as well. Based on this news, it’s safe to assume that Marvelous Inc. is currently right on schedule, as Pioneers of Olive Town is currently set to launch in Japan on February 25, 2021.

Meanwhile, those who want to experience the localized versions will be able to play the game shortly after, with a scheduled release date of March 23, 2021. This new entry in the Story of Seasons franchise was initially announced last October during that month’s Nintendo Direct event.

screenshot-www-youtube-com-2020-11-26-21_13_57

That being said, the company doesn’t plan on letting the fans wait too long for this charming RPG. Japanese players will be able to experience the game only four months after its initial reveal, while Western fans only have to wait one month after that in order to play the localized versions.

Nintendojam from GoNintendo scanned two pages from Famitsu’s feature and then shared it on their website, along with a quick summary of its contents. From what we can see based on the scans, the two pages talk about Pioneers of Olive Town’s character creation. Screenshots showcasing NPC interactions are also included.

That being said, Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town is still a game that’s currently in development. Therefore, it’s still subject to numerous changes depending on what the developer sees fit.

However, we can’t deny the fact that this kind of progress seems promising, especially for those fans who have been waiting for another Story of Seasons installment. The last game in the series was More Friends of Mineral Town, which was a remake of a classic Harvest Moon game.

On the other hand, the game before that was entitled Doraemon Story of Seasons, which was an interesting spin-off title based on the popular Japanese cartoon, Doraemon. February 2017 introduced Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns, also known as the latest flagship title in the franchise.

screenshot-www-youtube-com-2020-11-26-21_58_48

Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town is the next game in line in the Bokujō Monogatari series. For those unaware, the series of Bokujō Monogatari games were initially known as Harvest Moon, but the titles were changed to Story of Seasons in 2015.

The reason behind this change goes like this: American publisher Natsume no longer has the licensing rights to release Bokujō Monogatari games. As a result, it decided to release its own series of farming simulator RPGs underneath the Harvest Moon titles. This explains why More Friends of Mineral Town was remade as a Story of Seasons game rather than a Harvest Moon one.

Based on the trailers and the press, we expect that Pioneers of Olive Town will be bringing back a number of iconic features from the series, including festivals and events, as well as romanceable characters.

Watch Dogs: Legion Delays Release Date of Online Multiplayer Mode

0
screenshot-www-ubisoft-com-2020-11-26-19_20_55

Watch Dogs Legion is a game that already contains a variety of fun content as a single-player title. However, Ubisoft had plans to release an online multiplayer mode next week, which would allow players to experience the game with friends.

Unfortunately, this no longer seems to be the case now, as the developer has recently announced that Watch Dogs Legion’s online mode will be pushed back. This news was published on the game’s official website, which confirmed that the multiplayer mode that was meant to go live on December 3 will now be released in early 2021 instead.

That being said, Ubisoft’s reason for this delay appears to be a completely valid one, as most developers’ reasons are. The studio says that the delay is caused by a sheer number of bugs that are currently present in Watch Dogs Legion’s single-player base game itself, along with other technical problems.

Image

Understandably, Ubisoft wants to prioritize the release of as many bug fixes as possible before throwing in new content, which could possibly contain its own set of bugs too. Naturally, some fans may be disappointed by this news, but it’s definitely better to experience the feature late rather than with countless bugs and glitches that could put a damper on one’s gameplay.

That being said, there’s a bright side to this decision because it will give Ubisoft even more time to “test the Online experience to help ensure a smooth launch of the mode.” For now, the studio already has plans on releasing the first wave of fixes.

As a matter of fact, Update 2.20 will be going live on all platforms within this week. This patch will contain fixes for a variety of platform-specific issues as well as general ones. In addition to that, a new manual save button is going to be implemented on the PC version of the game.

More importantly, this upcoming update will contain fixes for some of the major issues that have been discovered in Watch Dogs Legion, including corrupted save files, erased progress during particular missions, as well as increased load times.

Image

There are a couple of other issues that won’t be fixed in this next patch though, such as the bug that stops Xbox players from saving their progress, but it shouldn’t be long before Ubisoft releases an update for those remaining problems.

In addition to that, the studio also said that players can expect other quality of life adjustments along with additional fixes some time next month. This will reportedly include more PC optimizations that will help the players’ setup consistently maintain 60 FPS on higher graphics settings.

As Ubisoft stated in the recent announcement, the game’s development team is working hard to address and resolve the numerous issues found in the game currently, and they don’t plan on stopping until every single player gets to experience Watch Dogs Legion the way Ubisoft intended.

When Watch Dogs Legion’s multiplayer mode does get released though, players will be able to enjoy the game in the company of up to four friends, allowing all of them to explore the busy streets of London together or perhaps participate in new missions that focus on teamwork.

Mediatonic Announces Theme of Fall Guys Season 3

0
enszjclxyaekcbv

Ever since its release last February, Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout has been swimming in success. The game’s second season was only released last month, but Mediatonic is already teasing players on what it has planned for Season 3.

After asking for help from fans who use Twitter, the team behind the hit platformer battle royale finally revealed the theme for Season 3 and it appears that it’s going to be all about Winter.

A few hours ago, the Fall Guys developer took to Twitter to ask for volunteers to help with a massive jigsaw puzzle gimmick it had planned. The puzzle had 300 pieces overall, and each piece was distributed among different users.

After 12 hours, the dedicated fans finally finished the puzzle, which provided them with a first look at the upcoming third season of Fall Guys. This reveal came shortly after Mediatonic shared a little teaser to the fans regarding a Season 3 level.

The fully-formed puzzle features the adorable bean-like Fall Guys characters wearing different outfits that are associated with Winter or snow, such as a penguin and a snowman. That being said, the tweet doesn’t mention when Season 3 will be released.

Generally, the second season of Fall Guys was well-received by most fans. However, there was a little bit of criticism due to the fact that there weren’t as many new levels as players would have liked or expected.

As such, Fall Guys’ community managers assured fans that things will be different with Season 3 — the team plans to make it bigger and better than the previous seasons. On the official Fall Guys Reddit community, Community Manager Oliver stated that “Season 3 will have more levels than Season 2,” and that going forward, Mediatonic has “huge plans for the game.”

This isn’t to say that Season 2 didn’t bring new features and challenges to the table. As a matter of fact, the second season of Fall Guys, with its Medieval theme, changed the way the game could be played.

A variety of “shows” or levels were added to the title, which mostly followed some kind of theme or criteria. For instance, one new course that was introduced to Season 2 was a Knight Fever level, which utilized all kinds of obstacles and hurdles to stop players from reaching the finish line.

Image

We’re definitely excited to see what Mediatonic has planned for the battle royale. For one thing, we’re interested to see if the developer will continue to do collaborations with other titles like it has done with Season 1 and Season 2.

So far, Fall Guys has partnered with numerous other franchises to release costumes for the bean characters. The most recent addition was the Goose skin from Untitled Goose Game, while the skin before that was a Godzilla one in celebration of Godzilla Day last November 3.

The month of December starts next week, which means that 2020 is almost ending as well. The video game industry annually hosts game awards to celebrate the different and wonderful titles that are currently available to play.

In line with this, GameRadar’s Golden Joystick Awards 2020 took place this week, and Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout won the best multiplayer game award. It definitely looks like Mediatonic’s battle royale has a bright future ahead of it.

Red Dead Online Will Be Getting A Standalone Release

0
screenshot-www-rockstargames-com-2020-11-26-13_34_11

Rockstar Games has officially announced via its company Twitter account that Red Dead Online will be released as its own standalone game some time within the year. Multiple digital storefronts will be offering the standalone version, including Steam, Epic Games Store, Rockstar Games Launcher, PlayStation Store, and Microsoft Store.

The game will be available for purchase beginning this December 1, and it’s supposed to contain all the current and future updates for the action-adventure title. Now, some players have been wondering if they will still be able to access the campaign of this standalone edition if they have already bought Red Dead Redemption 2’s online multiplayer mode.

In response, Rockstar Games announced that interested players will be able to purchase the story mode if they want to. Without a doubt, this will surely spice things up for the online multiplayer, and will most likely attract newcomers to join Red Dead Online’s servers.

Aside from this exciting announcement, Rockstar Games also revealed some fun things that are coming next week for the expansion of the Bounty Hunter role. According to the developer, this upcoming update will feature new changes that fans of the profession will surely enjoy.

More specifically, the press release reveals that players will be able to hunt down new targets, as well as enjoy new equipment that will be of great assistance in tying down the game’s most infamous outlaws.

Not only that, there will be additional bounty hunter ranks, and fans will have to strive harder if they want to ascend. In anticipation of this upcoming event, Rockstar Games will offer players double the experience points this week, which will significantly help them boost their level.

As soon as the update goes live and the new targets will be released, players will be in prime shape to take them down. This news that Red Dead Online will be getting its own standalone release seems to cement the speculation that Rockstar Games is on a mission to market its online multiplayer games as separate titles.

screenshot-www-rockstargames-com-2020-11-26-15_43_07

After all, the studio revealed a few months ago that Grand Theft Auto Online will be getting its own standalone release as well — on next-gen consoles, no less. That being said, while GTA Online will be getting an upgraded version once it’s released on the next-gen hardware, Red Dead Online, unfortunately, will not.

As Rockstar Games has announced, the standalone edition will only be released on the Xbox One and PS4.

Speaking of Grand Theft Auto Online, the multiplayer title is expected to release a major update this December 15. This update in question is supposed to introduce a new heist along with a new location.

What makes this update so significant is the fact that this is the first time that Rockstar Games will be expanding GTA Online’s map via expansion. This time around, players will get to visit and explore Cayo Perico, a lavish private island.

Grand Theft Auto Online has been around for seven years now, but it’s great that the developer still continues to release new content.

As for Red Dead Online, interested players can experience it on Xbox One, PC, PS4, and Stadia.

Steam’s Autumn Sale Has Officially Begun

0
screenshot-store-steampowered-com-2020-11-26-11_15_19

Throughout the year, fans get to enjoy several major video sales thanks to Valve’s digital storefront popularly known as Steam. The Steam Summer Sale this year took place from June 25 through July 9, which offered video games at incredibly discounted prices. This annual event surely tested the limits of those who wanted to save more and spend less.

However, Steam has other annual sales asides from this. For instance, the 2020 Steam Autumn Sale has officially started today in celebration of Thanksgiving, Cyber Monday, and Black Friday.

There were rumors recently indicating that the Autumn Sale would begin today, and this was confirmed when Steam’s front page featured a banner for the event. The event’s banner, which was made by freelance illustrator Slawek Fedorczuk, states that the Autumn Sale will run from today until December 1 at 10:00 a.m. PT.

In other words, users and players have one week to take advantage of the amazing deals and discounted prices. It’s impossible to enumerate the list of games that are currently on sale, given the sheer amount of titles.

https://twitter.com/Steam/status/1331671804935593986?s=20

However, Steam provides interested users with different options that will make it easier for them to look for games they may want to buy. Underneath the Autumn Sale banner is a category called “Featured Deals,” which cycles through different games.

At the moment, the featured games include The Sims 4 with an 88% discount and Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout with a 20% discount. When scrolling further down the page, there’s a list of Featured Franchises that cycle through groups of three, with 75 franchises overall.

Some of the franchises included are Assassin’s Creed, The Witcher, BioShock, Star Wars, and more. There’s also a new option this year: users now have the ability to search for discounted games via genre.

With so many games reaching up to 90% off, gamers will surely find a game or two from this year’s Autumn Sale. That being said, Valve included other gimmicks and incentives for this year’s event.

For example, users who are casually scanning through the thousands of games available also have the option to purchase a mini-profile background, a regular profile background, and Autumn-themed avatar frames for 2,000 Steam Points each.

screenshot-store-steampowered-com-2020-11-26-12_29_59

In addition to that, users can now vote for this year’s Steam Awards until December 1. The 2020 Steam Awards has 10 different categories for users to nominate for, including the Game of the Year award that developers and publishers yearn for annually. Last year, the award went to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

Once the Autumn Sale ends, this means that the nominations for those categories will also come to a close. Users will then get the chance to vote for the nominees during Steam’s Winter Sale, while the winners will be revealed on January 3, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. PT.

As thousands of gamers spend their hard-earned money on numerous discounted titles, we highly recommend that new users stick around because Valve’s digital storefront is always expanding, adding more games as time goes on.

For instance, the highly-anticipated Deathloop was previously confirmed to release on Steam when it launches next year. Meanwhile, the storefront recently added support for the PlayStation 5’s new DualSense controller.

Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War Adds Fan Favorite Multiplayer Map

0
black-ops-cold-war-nuketown-84-b

Nuketown ’84 has launched for Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War just a few hours ago as a precursor to Season 1. Since the release of Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War, multiplayer and the endeared zombies mode have been in Season 0. There are rewards that can be earned and several challenges for Season 0, but there was no Battle Pass offered during the first few weeks of Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War.

The game’s first season is scheduled for release on December 10 and players can expect more content they have to grind compared to Season 0. New prestige and other related rewards will be added as well as the debut of new weapons and maps. The game’s first Battle Pass will also be made available for purchase.

It seems that there will be three new multiplayer maps for the first season along with two new guns. New content won’t likely be introduced all at once, but rather in chunks similar to what they did with Call of Duty Modern Warfare with every season.

To commemorate the coming of the first season, Nuketown ’84 was launched in multiplayer mode on all available platforms. In a post via the official Call of Duty website, Nuketown ’84 was intricately explained and several tips were provided for new players.

Before the tips were mentioned, the post acknowledged that there are already a lot of players who are experts on the map. Regardless, Nuketown has found its way into every Treyarch-developed Call of Duty title since Call of Duty Black Ops. However, for the Black Ops Cold War version, some backstory was even provided.

Nuketown ’84 is of course set in the early 1980s and has a diverse aesthetic to depict that era. However, it isn’t totally ‘80s inspired and overhauled like the previous versions have been. Instead, the map is a reused and run down area that was abandoned.

After nuclear tests were made in the area in 1956, the Nevada site was deserted for almost 30 years until a group of outsiders discovered the site. The outsiders made the place their own after such a long time thus explaining the graffiti and bizarre blend of aesthetics on the map.

960x0-3359750

For most Call of Duty fans, the launch of Nuketown ’84 is something to be hyped for. It’s a beloved map that inspires fast-paced gameplay similar to Rust and Shipment. Regardless of the Call of Duty title, fans never get sick of this map, and it offers a great selection for the current map rotation.

With the release of Nuketown ’84, there are now nine maps in Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War, and we can all expect that this list will keep growing as the first season releases next month.

Can Do It Yourself Debt Relief be Effective?

0
debt-loan-student

About three-quarters of a million people in the United States file for bankruptcy each year. While those numbers have actually gone down since the great financial crisis triggered some changes in the law, people do still struggle with debt.

With that in mind, here’s what you need to know about the effectiveness of do-it-yourself debt relief.

Address the Problems Facing You

A lot of times, people try to find solutions before they fully understand their problems. Everyone wants to be rid of inconveniences as fast as possible. But rushing to a fix before understanding the issue might make the situation worse.

When thinking about the problems facing you in terms of your debt, consider how much debt you have versus your income, as well as the type(s) of debt in question. The amount and mix of your debt play a big role in determining whether you can pay it off on your own. You’ll also want to understand any habits that may have contributed to your debt. Failing to identify and address these issues, make it hard to stay out of debt — even if you can get out of it on your own.

Look at Your Options

Once you’ve identified the issues that got you into debt, and made resolutions to address them, you can start looking at your options for DIY debt relief. No two people are going to be in the exact same situation. This means you’ll have to decide for yourself if you’ll really be able to beat your debt through these methods.

Here are a few approaches to consider:

  • Debt Consolidation: There are a few ways debt consolidation can be done. On its most basic level, consolidating debt involves taking a variety of unsecured debts and combining them into a single new loan. This will ideally come at a lower interest rate, making it easier to repay. Credit card balance transfers are another popular form of loan consolidation. This is where you transfer your credit card accounts onto a single new one with a low introductory rate.
  • Increase Income: Bringing in more money is one of the best ways to get out of debt. While this isn’t an option for everyone, those who can boost their income will be able to more aggressively pay back what they owe.
  • Reevaluate and Renegotiate: While some costs are fixed, there are some you might be able to negotiate down. Shop around for different providers of essential services, or try asking for better rates. Some places will work with you if you explain you’re having trouble paying your debts.

Determine If You Need Extra Help

Not everyone is going to be able to get out of debt on their own. For those who need a bit more help, the top debt relief programs might be a good place to look. Working with a debt relief agency can give you an added boost if you’re too deep in debt to manage it on your own.

It’s important, however, to do some background research before signing up for any programs. There are organizations out there that try to take advantage of people in tough financial situations. Be skeptical of anyone who guarantees you’ll get out of debt, or tries to make you pay before you’ve received any services.

Do the Math Before Making Any Decisions

No matter the path you choose, take the time to understand how much it’s actually going to cost before pulling the trigger. You can’t afford to get into an even worse position with your debt. But that’s exactly what can happen if you take a path that doesn’t actually make sense. Working with a credit counselor can be helpful in this whole process. If nothing else, they can help you redo your budget and point you toward resources that might be helpful.

No one wants to pay more money to get out of debt. While this often ends up being part of the process, there are ways to get out of debt on your own. Successful DIY debt relief can vastly improve your life when you do it right.

Recent Posts