Overwatch New Hero Baptiste Arrives For Everyone Next Week

Overwatch‘s newest hero, Baptiste, will arrive for everyone next week. Blizzard announced today that Baptiste will launch on the game’s live servers on March 19.

Here’s a new sizzle reel that Blizzard released to hype the announcement:

Baptiste has been available on Overwatch’s PTR for a while already on PC, but this will be the first time that he’s available for everyone on all platforms.

Overwatch’s 30th hero, Baptiste is a combat medic who serves as a support class in Blizzard’s hero shooter. His primary weapon is the Biotic Launcher, which is a burst-fire rifle that fires three rounds at a time. His secondary fire heals allies. He also jump extra high thanks to his powerful Exo Boots.

Check out the video in the embed above to see Baptiste in action.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/overwatch-new-hero-baptiste-arrives-for-everyone-n/1100-6465570/

The Division 2 Easter Eggs Reference For Honor And Grow Home

Now that The Division 2 is rolling out, we’ve quickly discovered some Easter Eggs, and of them relates to other Ubisoft games.

At a certain point early in the game, you’ll unlock an upgrade to the Theatre Settlement that helps bring joy to the apocalypse through the art of video games. To boost morale, a video game section of the Settlement becomes unlocked. And wouldn’t you guess it, but the children have decided to play none other than Ubisoft’s sword-fighting game For Honor.

Not only that, but in another nod to a Ubisoft game, there is a Grow Home board game clearly visible on the table. You can see images of the Easter Eggs embedded in this post.

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Funnily enough, the original The Division also contained Easter Eggs for For Honor and Grow Home, which at the time were new IPs just like The Division was.

The Division 2 is a very big game, and it surely contains other Easter Eggs that have not yet been discovered. For reference, the first game had an Easter Egg related to Chris Farley’s beloved “Van Down By The River” sketch from Saturday Night Live.

The Division 2’s Gold and Ultimate Editions are available now, while the standard version launches on March 15. GameSpot is currently playing through the game, and while our full review is coming later, you can read our early impressions here.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-division-2-easter-eggs-reference-for-honor-and/1100-6465568/

Report Reveals How Much Activision Might Be Charging For New Call Of Duty Pro League Teams

Following the Overwatch League that launched in 2017, Activision is creating another city-based professional gaming league focused around Call of Duty. ESPN has more information about the league, including how much it may cost to set up a new franchise. According to sources speaking to ESPN, Activision is charging a franchise fee of $25 million per team. That’s higher than the reported $20 million fee that Activision charged for Overwatch League teams.

The report says existing Overwatch League team owners get first dibs on negotiations for Call of Duty teams in their existing home markets.

ESPN’s sources said Activision Blizzard executives have recently sat down with potential buyers; none were named outright, but some are said to be established Call of Duty pro teams and those who are already invested in Overwatch League.

The new Call of Duty pro league is rumoured to begin in 2020, though Activision has yet to make any official announcements. The company has not commented on ESPN’s report about the franchise fee and other details.

Activision already operates the Call of Duty World League, but this new league would be more significant, and, as mentioned feature a city-based structure like the Overwatch League and traditional sports leagues around the world.

After a debut season that Activision deemed successful, the Overwatch League’s 2019 season began in February. The league added eight new teams and almost 100 new players for the new season. It has teams in cities around the world, in places like London, New York, Boston, Seoul, Shanghai, and Atlanta. The players earn a minimum salary of $50,000 USD per year, and they stand to make much more from competitive earnings, along with endorsement deals.

The Overwatch League attracted big-name investors, including New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and New York Mets owner Jeff Wilpon.

The Call of Duty franchise is set to return in 2019 with a new game that, unlike 2018’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, will feature a single-player campaign.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/report-reveals-how-much-activision-might-be-chargi/1100-6465566/

ThinkGeek Is Running A Buy Two, Get One Free T-Shirt Sale Right Now

If you’ve been needing to bulk up your wardrobe, now’s the time: ThinkGeek is running a major sale on all T-shirts this week where buying two shirts will get you a third one for free. All you have to do is add three T-shirts to your cart and use the promo code B2G1TEE, and the price of one shirt will be discounted. If you select shirts of different prices, the cheapest one will be free (luckily, most of these shirts are around the same price). You’ll notice some of these shirts are already discounted, and they’re all included in the buy two, get one free sale.

From collared button-downs to casual tees, there are plenty of solid options to choose from, and they’re all officially licensed merchandise. ThinkGeek is known for carrying a vast selection of merch from practically any fandom, and that’s reflected in this sale, where you’ll find tees repping a ton of different interests. Some (but not all) of the games, shows, and movies included:

  • Captain Marvel
  • Dungeons & Dragons
  • Star Wars
  • The Legend of Zelda
  • Fortnite
  • Overwatch
  • Spider-Man
  • Deadpool
  • Dragon Ball Z
  • Futurama
  • Pokemon
  • Ready Player One
  • Rick and Morty
  • The Incredibles

Check out a few of our favorite options below, and head to ThinkGeek to shop the entire T-shirt sale. The sale ends March 17 at 8:59 PM PT / 11:59 PM ET. Due to a competing sale, the buy two, get one free deal will be paused on Thursday, March 14, but resume on Friday and continue through the weekend.

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Dragon Ball Z Goku’s Kanji T-Shirt, $22

Rep your boy Goku all day long.

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Star Wars Ships Short-Sleeve Shirt, $30

Look sharp while casually repping Star Wars’ most iconic ships.

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Fortnite Give Me the Loot T-Shirt, $22

Loot Llama will always be with you.

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Pokemon Pika Palette T-Shirt, $22

A solid outfit for this summer’s Detective Pikachu premiere, perhaps?

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Spider-Man Split T-Shirt, $22

With great T-shirts come pockets–ideally with Spider-Man’s face on them.

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Cuphead You Died T-Shirt, $22

There’s no shame in dying over and over…and over.

Shop ThinkGeek’s full T-shirt sale »

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/thinkgeek-is-running-a-buy-two-get-one-free-t-shir/1100-6465559/

Battlefield 5 Firestorm Reveal Trailer Coming Tomorrow, Watch It Here

Battlefield V‘s third chapter of content, Trial by Fire, kicks off later this month, and one of the most anticipated features it’ll bring to the game is Firestorm, Battlefield V’s take on battle royale. Developer DICE hasn’t yet announced when Firestorm will go live, but we’ll get our first real look at the mode very soon.

DICE is broadcasting Firestorm’s reveal trailer tomorrow, March 14. We don’t yet know how long the video will be or what it will showcase, but it’s scheduled to go live at 6 AM PT / 9 AM ET. You’ll be able to tune in right here on GameSpot and watch the trailer via the embed below.

While tomorrow’s trailer will provide our first official look at Firestorm, fans got an early look at the mode recently when Firestorm’s tutorial video recently leaked online. According to that video, the mode will support Solo, Duo, and Squads options, and just as in other battle royale games, each match will begin with players parachuting out of a plane, then scrambling to find weapons and other items to help them survive.

EA has previously said that Firestorm will support up to 64 players. Unlike the rest of the game, the mode isn’t developed by DICE, but rather Criterion, the studio behind the Need for Speed series. The mode derives its name from the ring of fire that gradually closes in on the battlefield as matches progress.

In the meantime, the final event of Chapter 2: Lightning Strikes, dubbed Unstoppable Force, is now live. Along with two Weekly Challenges, the event brings back the fan-favorite Rush mode, but it’ll only be around until March 20.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/battlefield-5-firestorm-reveal-trailer-coming-tomo/1100-6465564/

The Bizarre History of Crackdown 3

On June 9th, 2014, almost four years to the day after Crackdown 2 was released, Microsoft revealed the third game in the Crackdown series was coming to the company’s brand-new console, the Xbox One.

It would be a cooperative, open-world game, touted as a new iteration of the action series, featuring a whole new campaign, and using Xbox Live to power a city. And that city… it wouldn’t just be an exciting place to play, but part of your destructive arsenal.

In this new Crackdown reveal trailer, explosions rocked the neon-soaked future city, setting off a chain of bombastic impacts as each inferno-engulfed building collapsed into the next. But the next several years of what would become Crackdown 3 were just the opposite…

Continue reading…

source http://www.ign.com/articles/2019/03/13/the-bizarre-history-of-crackdown-3

Following Apparent Borderlands 3 Teaser, Gearbox Hints At Another Game

Gearbox recently teased something that is almost certainly Borderlands 3, and now it has issued a second teaser for another game. This time the studio was less coy, outright stating that it will be showing the new game at PAX.

But while the first hint was relatively clear–the number three on a dusty road, suggesting Borderlands 3 news–this one is decidedly less so. It does state that this is “another game,” so it’s not just another clue for Borderlands, but other than that it’s just a stark scene. In it we can see some kind of machine or robot hooked up to wires in a laboratory.

Speculation has ranged from something to do with We Happy Few to a new Duke Nukem to an entirely new IP. Whatever it is, it’s likely to be unveiled during Gearbox’s panel in panel at PAX East’s biggest hall. That panel, to take place on March 28, promises “never-before-seen reveals, exclusives, and surprises.” It will also be live streamed for those not attending the Boston, MA event.

Gearbox’s first teaser was said to be a likely factor in Take-Two stock ticking upwards, which was then bolstered further by an unfounded rumor that Sony was discussing a possible acquisition of the publisher. That report was erroneous, however, and the stock price seems to be increased from where it had been, but stabilizing lower than its peak.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/following-apparent-borderlands-3-teaser-gearbox-hi/1100-6465565/

The Division 2 — Early Review, Release Date, And Everything You Need To Know

The Division 2 is here, now available for Xbox One, PS4, and PC if you’ve bought one of the game’s special editions. An online action role-playing game, The Division 2 places an emphasis on squad-based combat, with teammates firing from cover and working together to take down groups of enemies. Which isn’t to say, you can’t tackle The Division 2’s world alone. If you want to be a lone wolf who traverses the violent streets of Washington DC, you can.

Taking place seven months after the events of the first game, The Division 2 reworks its predecessor’s loot-focused shooter gameplay. Enemies still take more bullets to go down than what’s believable, but they’re not the bullet sponges found in The Division. Ubisoft has also crafted The Division 2 to have a greater focus on endgame play, incorporating more than one Dark Zone, powerful late-game loot, and raids–which can be tackled with up to eight players. From what we’ve seen so far, The Division 2 seems to improve upon its predecessor’s format in every way. So if you missed 2016’s The Division, you might want to consider picking up its sequel.

What You Need To Know

The Division 2 is the follow-up to 2016’s The Division, continuing the story of a broken US after a smallpox epidemic struck the country on Black Friday 2015. With the country falling apart, the US government activates the sleeper agents that work for the Strategic Homeland Division, who have been secretly living amongst the populace for years. Division agents are ordered to aid humanitarian efforts and emergency responders, as well as respond to emerging criminal groups with highly advanced military grade hardware and weaponry. The first game took place in New York City in the winter following the outbreak, while The Division 2 moves the setting to the country’s capital, Washington DC, in the spring.

Release Date And Price

The Division 2’s official release date is March 15, but the game has technically already come out via its staggered launch schedule. Pre-ordering the standard edition of The Division 2 gets you the game on March 15. It’s also the cheapest version of the game, with a retail price of $60 USD. You can play the game right now by buying the Gold and Ultimate editions of the game–the former has a retail cost of $110 while the latter goes for $120. There are also Dark Zone Definitive and Phoenix Shield editions of the game as well, which are the Ultimate edition plus physical collectibles. The Dark Zone Definitive Edition has a retail price of $190 and Phoenix Shield goes for $250.

Review

We don’t have a full review of The Division 2 yet, but GameSpot editor and senior video producer Edmond Tran has compiled his initial impressions of the game before publishing a full review. “But it’s only been a day, and I’ve only played for about ten hours,” Edmond writes. “I’ve finished 27% of the primary missions and my character is level 12 out of a possible 30. A lot of my observations here might not be particularly groundbreaking if you spent a large amount of time with the original The Division or The Division 2 beta, but there’s still a lot of the campaign left to see, and an allegedly enormous endgame. It’s important that I take the time to get to that point and see everything for myself, and I’m eager to see whether The Division 2 will still have the chops to keep me hooked when I hit the level cap and stop having a story to chase. Back to sightseeing, for now.”

Our Impressions

We’ve kept an eye on The Division 2 since its announcement, and had our first opportunity to publish impressions for the game during E3 2018. Below, you’ll find the list of some features we’ve done for The Division 2.

Gameplay

If you just want a taste of The Division 2, watch the first eight minutes of the game below. We’ve also captured gameplay for what it’s like to hunt other players in The Division 2’s Dark Zones.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-division-2-early-review-release-date-and-every/1100-6465563/

Marvel’s Shang-Chi Movie: Who Is the Superhero Martial Artist?

Another Marvel icon is joining the MCU after Avengers: Endgame, thanks to the news that Marvel is reportedly developing a Shang-Chi movie and has now hired Destin Daniel Cretton for the project. Iron Fist and Collen Wing are about to have some stiff competition in the martial artist superhero department.

But who is Shang-Chi, and why is he regarded as one of the greatest warriors in the Marvel Universe? Here’s why they call him the Master of Kung Fu!

Shang-Chi: The Basics

Shang-Chi may be the son of one one of the worst villains in the Marvel Universe, but he himself ranks among its greatest heroes. Shang-Chi has devoted his life to perfecting his martial arts abilities. Rather than using those talents for fame and fortune, he travels the world and rights wrongs. Sometimes he works alone. Other times he fights alongside heroes like Spider-Man, Daredevil or the Avengers. But wherever he goes, Shang-Chi inspires hope in the hearts of the innocent and dread in anyone foolish enough to challenge him in battle.

Continue reading…

source http://www.ign.com/articles/2019/03/13/marvels-shang-chi-movie-explained-who-is-the-martial-artist-superhero

Remembering the First and Only Mario FPS

Every year dozens of classic video games celebrate milestone anniversaries. There always seem to be a few major releases highlighted above the rest, but last year may have been the biggest yet for Nintendo fans. 2018 saw the 30th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. 3, the 25th anniversary of Star Fox, and the 20th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, just to name a few.

Continue reading…

source http://www.ign.com/articles/2019/03/13/mario-fps-yoshis-safari