Nintendo made waves by announcing a $100 New 3DS for Black Friday, and Amazon just pushed preorders live on both the white and black editions.
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Wednesday, November 23, 2016
News:: Preorders Are Live on the $100 Black Friday 3DS
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News:: Review: Dragon Ball Fusions
Dragon Ball Z represents some of the best and worst aspects of serialized anime. There is an abundance of clever, funny, and charming characters along with some fantastic art and intense scenarios. Then there are the repeated animation frames, the pointless filler arcs, and drawn-out conclusions to sagas. It can be painful to watch, in parts, but it still remains one of the most influential pieces of Japanese animation in the world.
The video games, on the other hand, range from outright terrible to pretty decent. There have been a few standout titles, but most of the games that Bandai Namco puts out tend to play it safe and cram in a bunch of fan service in a vain attempt to distract from the repetitive gameplay.
Dragon Ball Fusions is one of the first to do away with the old storylines and it almost works, but often stumbles.
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News:: Steam's first game awards are chosen by you
Valve doesn't want to leave game awards to others any more. The gaming giant is introducing its first-ever Steam Awards, and it's asking the community to decide on both the nominees and the winners. These aren't the usual best-in-category awards, either. It wants you to nominate titles based on everything from their addictive qualities (the "Just 5 More Minutes" award) through to the best mini games ("Game Within A Game"). You'll get experience points and badges for nominating, so you aren't just receiving a pat on the back for your time.
Source: Steam Awards, Steam Store
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News:: You can play FIFA 17 for free during Thanksgiving weekend
We don't typically do much FIFA talk around these parts, but I know you're out there. I know some of you are into these games! If you've held off on this year's installment but are willing to set aside the time and storage needed to download an extended trial, this is the news for you.
On Xbox One and PlayStation 4, FIFA 17 will be free to download and play from Thursday, November 24 at 10:00am Pacific until Sunday, November 27 at 11:59pm Pacific.
There are caveats, of course: this isn't the entire unrestricted game (it's "all in-game features, Ultimate Team, and a portion of The Journey game mode") and there's a 10-hour limit on your play time (though seemingly only on Xbox One). What's more, "EA Access subscribers who played FIFA 17 during the pre-release limited time trial may not have full access to the 10-hour free trial."
With that in mind, this could be a good way to gauge your interest in the game and determine if the full version is worth getting yet at Black Friday pricing. Your story mode progress will carry over.
FIFA 17 Free Trial [EA Sports]
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News:: Microsoft's Solitaire Now Available On Rival Phones
Microsoft’s own version of Solitaire, one of the most popular and enduring video games of all time, is now available for the first time ever on a platform that isn’t Windows.
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News:: GMG's aggressive Black Friday PC game sale brings new lows on Fallout 4, Doom, and No Man's Sky
Green Man Gaming is crushing it with aggressive prices this season. We've been sitting on a big fat deal list in the past few days, salivating at the prices that were supposed to go live closer to Friday. But earlier today GMG jumped the gun and released its best prices on PC digital games for Black Friday -- a move that was probably prompted by Steam's Autumn Sale going live today.
So far the deals are fairly spectacular and strong. Our top picks are $17 Doom or Fallout 4. Skyrim Special Edition is also on tap for $25, and Cities: Skylines at $6 is an incredible buy (heck we even bought a copy for ourselves).
The now-infamous No Man's Sky from Hello Games is discounted to 40% off at Steam, but with GMG's extra 10% off coupon you can pick the game up for as low as $32.39. That makes it 46% off, and is probably sorta maybe worth it now? Your call.
GMG Black Friday Sale
Use Coupon: BLACKFRIDAY10
- Fallout 4 (Steam) — $17.09 (list price $60)
- Doom (Steam) — $17.09 (list price $60)
- Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Legendary Edition (Steam) — $8.61 (list price $40)
- Cities: Skylines (Steam) — $6.11 (list price $30)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition (Steam) — $25.71 (list price $40)
- Hearts of Iron IV: Cadet Edition (Steam) — $21.86 (list price $40)
- Stellaris (Steam) — $21.86 (list price $40)
- No Man's Sky (Steam) — $32.39 (list price $60)
More New Deals
- Stellaris: Galaxy Edition (Steam) — $38.06 (list price $70)
- F1 2016 (Steam) — $34.46 (list price $60)
- Hearts of Iron IV: Colonel Edition (Steam) — $27.26 (list price $50)
- Stellaris: Nova Edition (Steam) — $27.26 (list price $50)
- Fallout 4: Season Pass (Steam) — $25.71 (list price $50)
- Master of Orion: Collector's Edition (Steam) — $23.01 (list price $50)
- DOOM Season Pass (Steam) — $22.79 (list price $40)
- Dead Island Definitive Collection (Steam) — $20.51 (list price $40)
- Master Of Orion (Steam) — $13.76 (list price $30)
- Homefront: The Revolution (Steam) — $11.69 (list price $40)
- Mount and Blade Collection (Steam) — $11.69 (list price $45)
- Dishonored: Definitive Edition (Steam) — $8.61 (list price $20)
- Cities: Skylines Deluxe Edition (Steam) — $8.09 (list price $40)
- DOOM: Hell Followed (Steam) — $7.71 (list price $15)
- Mighty No. 9 (Steam) — $7.71 (list price $20)
- Deadlight: Director's Cut (Steam) — $5.91 (list price $20)
- Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Steam) — $5.66 (list price $20)
- Wolfenstein: The New Order (Steam) — $5.66 (list price $20)
- Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (Steam) — $5.66 (list price $20)
- How To Survive 2 (Steam) — $3.86 (list price $15)
- How To Survive (Steam) — $1.34 (list price $15)
About 100 extra new games entered the sale that started on Monday, and we've picked out all the noteworthy nuggets above. If you spot anything missing that's worth a mention, let us know and we'll add it to the list.
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News:: Microsoft's 'Solitaire' heads to iOS and Android
If you're one of the millions addicted to Microsoft's Solitaire on Windows, now you'll be able to get your card fix for free on iOS and Android. This marks the first time the Solitaire Collection has appeared outside of Windows, as The Verge reports. The mobile version will include FreeCell, Klondike, Spider, Tripeaks and Pyramid game modes, and it'll sport Xbox Live integration as well, so you you won't have to play it alone. (Yes, I realize that's the point of Solitaire for many.)
Via: The Verge
Source: Google Play, iTunes
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News:: Symmetra's overhaul in Overwatch puts her over the top
Header image by PersonalAmi on DeviantArt.
Soon after the announcement that players would be able to try out Symmetra's changes in Overwatch, the Public Test Realm (PTR) opened up for PC players to give her a test run. Since Sym is one of my most played characters, I was eager to try out the changes for myself. I enlisted a friend to help me do some testing, and here are the results.
Symettra's basic ability to provide a minor health buff to her teammates has been removed from the game. Instead, she can now summon a "Photon Barrier," a durable, mobile shield that automatically moves forward from her position at about Roadhog and Reinhardt's walk speed. This ability is on a 10 second cooldown and casts pretty much instantly. The barrier acts nearly the same as Reinhardt's hardlight shield, allowing your team to fire through it while stopping enemy fire. There's no physical presence, so enemies and allies alike can walk right through it. The barrier will follow inclines, but is destroyed if the center runs into a wall or something solid. Symmetra's shield is oblong in shape, which leaves some exposure on the corners that Rein's shield doesn't have. It's very sturdy though, and could take more than two seconds of sustained Bastion fire before breaking. Testing shows that it has somewhere around 1000 hit points, about half as much as Reinhardt's shield.
meanwhile, in the ptr http://pic.twitter.com/KLkreJuf4y
— Kyle Gaddo (@kylegaddo) November 23, 2016
We played around with the Photon Barrier to see what it could soak up, and were pleasantly surprised to see that the answer was "pretty much everything." Two notable exceptions: an opposing Symmetra can launch her secondary (charged) fire through the barrier, and Reinhardt's Fire Strike pierces it as well. Zarya's particle beam and Winston's Tesla Cannon won't penetrate the barrier, nor will projectiles like Mei's icicles, Junkrat's blast balls and explosive mine, or Hanzo's arrows. It can even be used to stop ultimates like McCree's High Noon, Tracer's Pulse Bomb, and heavy hitters like Reinhardt's Earthshatter and D. Va's Self Destruct. Mei's Blizzard projectile did penetrate the barrier, and so did Hanzo's Spirit Dragons.
Symmetra now receives charge on her meter for blocking damage with the Photon Barrier, making it easier for her to build one of two ultimate constructions. She can now choose to build a shield generator or her teleport pad, though it's impossible to have both up at the same time, and she still can't build charge for a new construct while the old one is still active.
The Teleport pad has been significantly upgraded and is much harder to destroy. It took 5 direct hits from Pharah's rocket launcher to take out a fresh pad, so it seems to have a little less than 500 HP. Although her buildings' health still isn't visible, most of it has been changed to rechargeable shields similar to Zarya or Zenyatta's blue bars, meaning that it should repair itself most of the way if you manage to dispatch an attacker before they can finish it off. There's also an on-screen popup that will let you know when the pad is being damaged.
Artwork by Estivador on DeviantArt.
Symmetra is now unique in that she can choose between two different ultimates. By pressing the button multiple times, she can toggle between her standard teleport pad or a new construct, a Shield Generator. This can be placed anywhere the teleporter could, and grants the friendly team 75 extra health in the form of regenerating shields as long as they're within range of the device. If you leave the area covered by the Generator your extra health will go away after a few seconds, but you'll get it back immediately when you re-enter the field.
What's great about this is that the Generator does not require line of sight, and has exceptional range. For example, when placed inside the small building near the first defense point of Volskaya Industries, the field stretched well past the chokepoint archway near the truck. This extra health will regenerate as long as the generator remains active, but once it's destroyed, everyone on the team loses the buff immediately.
The Shield Generator can be placed on a moving platform or a payload, though it's more useful to hide it since it doesn't need line of sight. I suspect this will change, but the pad can currently be placed within the spawn room, meaning the enemy team may have no way to destroy it. And although it won't matter in any game modes other than No Limits, the shields do stack with multiple Symmetras, each granting an additional +75 regenerating health. It doesn't appear that voice lines for the new construct have been added yet, and all of the characters still refer to it as a teleporter.
Symmetra's primary fire has been slightly lengthened, though I couldn't tell exactly how much farther the beam extends. Lúcio can still knock her back just far enough to break the lock. It should help her counter Genji a little more effectively since he'll have more trouble dashing out of her range. Her secondary fire is unchanged, and you can still fire a slow-moving beach ball that penetrates enemy shields and barriers for massive damage. Her turrets haven't changed much, though she can place all six without waiting for a cooldown now. They also regenerate slightly faster, taking 10 seconds instead of 12. She can also store up to six in reserve, making it far easier to set up a fallback position if your first line of defense falls.
Artwork by Quirkilicious on Deviantart.
I'm not sure the changes will lead to Symmetra being chosen more frequently on attack, though the Photon Barrier gives her some utility that no other hero can match. I can definitely see it being useful in helping push against an enemy Torbjörn or Bastion, blocking enough fire to help the team take down a fortified position. It could also make for some huge plays, stopping an enemy ultimate from wiping the team if deployed with perfect timing. It might even make her a better Nano Boost target since she'll be able to block for herself while melting the enemy team into pudding.
The other change mentioned in the developer video has nothing to do with Symmetra, though it's a welcome social feature. Players can now vote to stay together after a match ends, and any players who vote to do so will be automatically added to a group. If you find yourself gelling within a pickup group, this is a great way to keep playing with them without the hassle of having to add each other to friends lists.
It's unclear when these changes will make their way to the main game and the console versions, but I'm definitely looking forward to them. In a way it's kind of a shame, though; I've rather enjoyed abusing people who underestimate Symmetra's damage potential.
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News:: Overwatch Players Are Using Symmetra's New Abilities To Break The Game
Overwatch’s Symmetra overhaul is live on the game’s PTR, and people are really putting her new kit through its paces.
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News:: The best deals for Black Friday
Black Friday, the shopping mania that occurs the day after American Thanksgiving, may be more important than ever in 2016. Between 4K TVs, new game consoles, media hubs, mobile devices and wearables, there are many potential gifts this year -- those discounts could be crucial to splurging on someone or treating yourself. But where do you go to find the best bargains? Never fear, as we're rounding up some of the bigger deals you'll see on and around November 25th. And many of these deals will be online, so you might not have to brave packed stores and shopping malls to save some cash.
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News:: Deadspin This Zach LaVine Dunk Is Some Extremely Good Shit | Jezebel The Walking Dead’s Ratings Are
Deadspin This Zach LaVine Dunk Is Some Extremely Good Shit | Jezebel The Walking Dead’s Ratings Are the Lowest Ever This Season | Gizmodo Your Dog Remembers All Those Awful Things You Did | Jezebel Your White, Liberal Thanksgiving Better Come with a Hearty Donation to the Dakota Access Pipeline Protesters |
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News:: New 'Pokémon Go' creature throws unpredictability into your game
That didn't take long. Mere days after leaks hinted that Pokémon Go would get more monsters, Niantic and The Pokémon Company have rolled Ditto into the game. The critter is a shape-shifter that won't reveal its true form until you capture it -- in other words, the only reliable way to capture a Ditto is to keep playing until you find one at random. In the Gym, it'll assume the looks and abilities of the first creature it sees and stay that way throughout other battles.
Source: App Store, Google Play, Pokemon Go
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News:: Review: Root Letter
At first, Root Letter (stylized as “√Letter”) appears to try to hook players with the thought of solving a crime. A murder mystery is afoot, and it’s up to me, the player, to solve it. But actually playing the game makes me feel less like Sherlock Holmes cracking open a tough whodunit, and more like an eccentric, slightly obnoxious Lonely Planet writer backpacking his way across a lesser-known section of Japan.
I can’t say definitively whether the rather laid-back mood of this visual novel was all due to Kadokawa Games’ intentions, but oddly enough, it still works out.
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News:: Conan Exiles is taking its snake-punching ways to Xbox One
A week ago, in light of some new screenshots surfacing for Funcom's Conan Exiles, I said I was feeling the sandbox survival game despite my general fatigue with the genre. That's still true today as I watch this trailer informing us of a January 31 launch on Steam Early Access and a spring 2017 release window on Xbox One's equivalent program for work-in-progress games. (A PlayStation 4 port could eventually happen, but not at this stage since Sony doesn't have its own system in place).
Does it look great? No, I wouldn't say that. But it adds some elements to the familiar eat-craft-build survival shell that could prove interesting. For instance, being able to enslave NPC bandits and summon a hulking avatar to wipe out player-run settlements. Can't say I've done that before.
"Everybody has a different interpretation of Conan and his world based on what they were exposed to. Some had their first Conan experience through the comic books, while others saw the 1982 Schwarzenegger movie before moving on to Robert E. Howard's stories. For sourcing our starting point has always been the Howard stories, with some inspiration from other sources as well."
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News:: Even the Joker Can’t Save an Underwhelming Episode of Telltale’s Batman Game
For the past three months, game development studio Telltale has delivered shocking, clever twists in each episode of their Batman video game. But despite the appearance of the Dark Knight’s archenemy, that doesn’t happen in this week’s episode four of Batman: The Telltale Series.
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News:: The Division’s New Survival Mode Is Intense
The $15 “Survival” expansion to 2016’s second most-intense emotional rollercoaster, The Division, seems to be a very good addition to the game. Emphasis on “seems to be,” because I can only extend so much praise to a clever but brutal game mode that keeps killing me.
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News:: Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is 'done' and nearing release
WayForward is nearing the end of its "very long development cycle" for Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, a game that first graced Kickstarter in September 2013, and I think some celebratory hair whips are in order. Shantae is "done" as of this week and awaiting approval from platform holders.
The game doesn't have an exact release date yet -- WayForward is waiting for that all-clear from Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Steam, and intends to do a global release -- but we likely aren't far off.
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News:: Black Friday's The Only Excuse You Need to Get a New Sound Bar
If you’re still listening to any of your TVs through its built-in speakers, Black Friday’s the only excuse you need to upgrade to a sound bar.
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News:: Ditto sloshes into Pokemon Go
Pokémon games contain a lot of strange creatures, but few are more bizarre than Ditto. It's an amorphous pink blob of goo that has the ability to disguise itself as anything it touches. In the handheld games, this ability is provided by the move Transform, which lets Ditto perfectly mimic the opposing Pokémon. There's a fan theory that all Ditto are failed clones of Mew, the only other Pokémon that can learn Transform.
Starting today, Ditto is now available in Pokémon GO. There's a bit of a twist though-- Ditto don't look like Ditto when you encounter them. You'll need to catch other Pokémon and see if they're actually a Ditto in disguise.
Niantic let us know that if you set a Ditto as a defender at a Gym, Ditto will copy the appearance, types, and moves of the first Pokémon it sees, and it will stay that way through the remainder of those Gym battles. Sounds like a good way to copy a friend's Snorlax or Dragonite if you're working as a team.
The new patch also restores the tracking function, though it doesn't work the same as it did when Pokémon GO launched. Instead of showing what direction a creature is in, the "Nearby" feature now shows what landmark you should walk towards if you hope to encounter a specific Pokémon. Unfortunately, I've also noticed it's much harder to activate Pokéstops while you're a passenger in a vehicle, and they seem to be locked out if you're moving more than about ten miles per hour.
It's unlikely Niantic will ever be able to regain the goodwill it lost after Go's launch, but updates are rolling out on a regular basis, and the game is still improving bit by bit. With a double XP event underway, may as well load it up for that post-Thanksgiving walk before coming back for thirds on pie.
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News:: Review: FNATIC Duel TMA-2 Modular Gaming Headset
When you see the name FNATIC, you're probably reminded of the various eSports teams that bear the name, or you're outraged that someone would spell fanatic wrong. What you're not thinking is "Hey, I bet they make some good headsets," and let me tell you this review will do nothing to change that.
This is easily one of the worst headsets I've used and severely overpriced, seemingly just to milk a few bucks out of FNATIC fans.
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News:: Four Times Pokémon Sun and Moon Get Way Too Real
Something that really surprised me about Pokémon Sun and Moon were the random spurts of bleakness. The latest generation of Pokémon games aren’t afraid to go there, even if it leaves the player uncomfortable about the implications.
via Kotaku http://ift.tt/2gBZl8N
News:: Nintendo offers rare discounts on 3DS and Wii U games
Nintendo isn't known for running many sales on its games (you're more likely to see sales on devices), but it's making a big exception this year. It just kicked off a Cyber Deals eShop sale that offers large discounts on 3DS and Wii U titles -- and these are frequently titles you'd want to play. On the 3DS, you'll see price cuts on big titles like Hyrule Warriors Legends (down to $28), Fire Emblem Awakening ($20) and Monster Hunter Generations ($23). Head over to the Wii U side and you can pick up Twilight Princess HD ($35), Super Mario Galaxy 2 ($10) and Darksiders II ($10). Indie games like Super Meat Boy and Terraria are also on sale, and numerous Lego games (including Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens) are discounted across platforms.
Source: Nintendo
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News:: Valve Announces The Steam Awards
It’s the end of the year, which means a) oh fuck me blind thank christ, and b) it’s award season! For the first time ever, Steam is giving out its own set of awards.
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News:: Why we need diverse games like 'Watch Dogs 2' more than ever
As we're finally beginning to see video games take diverse representation seriously, it's almost poetic that Americans just elected a race-baiting misogynist as their next leader. It's as if the resentment built up over calls for more diversity in media (which also reared its ugly head with the Gamergate crowd) reached a point where a significant portion of the country was ready to be charmed by a demagogue who promised to stop those pesky Social Justice Warriors.
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News:: Sony is bringing some surprises to PlayStation Experience
We told you about everyone who will be at PlayStation Experience 2016, but now we can share a list of everything (well, almost everything) that'll be at the Anaheim convention in early December.
Curiously, a few conspicuous "unannounced panels" are on the schedule. Sony is also quick to point out that this list of playable games isn't exhaustive -- there's apparently "plenty more to be revealed."
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News:: Damn, the Steam Awards art is hella good
Look, I'm a Fancy Man, alright? I cut my pizza with a fork and knife. I go to many a Broadway play and art gallery. I could probably ballroom dance if I wanted to. If I were a cat, I'd only eat wet food.
The point is that I'm cultured and haughty, so I know this Steam Awards art is hella good. Astronauts playing chess in space? What a fine illustration of metaphorical resonance of spatial relationships! A pirate diving into shark-infested waters? Such a striking commentary on personal freedom and societal expectations!
Why the Steam Awards art exists? That I do not know. Maybe they'll be repurposed for the winners of the Steam Awards. Maybe they're just examples of fake categories and brand new art will appear in the Historical Showcase of Winners. If the latter happens, you can be damn well sure that I'm gonna appreciate the hell out of that art too.
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News:: Hot deal: Xbox One S 1TB bundle is only $269.99 for Black Friday
If you were in the market for a 1TB Xbox One S console bundle, this Xbox One S may be as cheap as we find this year (but who knows with the surprise deals we've seen so far).
Today Antonline, a Microsoft authorized dealer, slapped this 1TB Gears of War 4 bundle on its eBay store for only $269.99. That's $30 cheaper than the recent drop to $299.99 that's being offered everywhere else, and $80 cheaper than the usual $350 list price.
- Xbox One S Gears of War 4 1TB Bundle — $269.99 (list price $349)
- Full warranty from Microsoft, free shipping, tax in CA/GA
There's free shipping in the continental US and sales tax only in CA and GA. The lack of sales tax could mean extra savings, so long as you don't live where Antonline has warehouses. Having said that, most locations in the US should receive their unit within a week.
For a nearly $300 priced item, this console deal is selling like hotcakes. Over 50 have been sold in the last hour and about 270 at the time of writing sold since this morning when the deal first went live. There is a limited quantity available, and by our guesstimate there are probably around 400~500 units total for sale at this price.
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