Halo Infinite Beta Coming First To Xbox; Split-Screen Already Up And Running

Halo Infinite had a big showing at E3 2019 last week, but Microsoft isn’t done dropping news about the long-awaited Xbox and PC game. Developer 343 Industries to shared some new details on the game, and it’s a lot to take in.

Starting off, 343 confirmed in a blog post that Halo Infinite will support LAN and that the already announced split-screen feature is “up and running” already. That’s a big deal because Halo 5 dropped split-screen in a move that upset a number of series fans.

343 also announced that the beta tests for Halo Infinite, known as “flights,” will take place first on Xbox and then PC. The testing periods will “start small” and then “slowly expand” up until the game’s release in Holiday 2020. “Flighting may come a little bit later for PC players, but we’re treating it as a first-class citizen,” 343 said.

The studio also confirmed that the characters in Halo Infinite will have black undersuits. That sounds like a small detail, but in Halo 4 and Halo 5 players had different colored undersuits, which garnered a mix reaction from fans.

Additionally, 343 teased Halo Infinite’s armor customization options, saying, “if you liked the level of armor customziation in Halo: Reach, you will be pleased [with Halo infinite].” On top of that, 343 confirmed that those who reach the highest level in Halo 5, SR 152, will receive a “token of appreciation” in Halo Infinite.

Finally, 343 stated that it has an internal team of professional gamers testing Halo Infinite’s multiplayer. And on the story side, 343 re-affirmed that Halo Infinite’s story begins “some time after” the end of Halo 5.

Halo Infinite releases in Holiday 2020 as a launch title for Project Scarlett. The game plays on the entire family of Xbox One consoles, as well as PC.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/halo-infinite-beta-coming-first-to-xbox-split-scre/1100-6467949/

Xbox Boss Says Scarlett Design Is A “Cool-Looking, New Thing”; Price May Depend On Trump’s Tariffs

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has suggested that the form factor of the new Xbox Project Scarlett might not be traditional. Speaking to Xbox On, Spencer said the design of the next-generation console isn’t locked down yet, though he personally knows what it will look like.

“At some point we’ll show what it looks like,” he said. “The physical ID is not done. I know what it’s gonna look like. It’s gonna be–I think it’s a cool-looking, new thing, which will be interesting. But we don’t have a final ID done.”

Spencer said Microsoft did not show the design of Scarlett at E3 because it wasn’t ready yet. Also, form factor isn’t the most important part of what makes the system compelling, he said.

“It’s not like we’re going to put a half-done ID out there and say, ‘This is kind of what it will look like,'” he said. “That’s not really the thing that’s going to drive purchase decision.”

Other unknowns for Scarlett are its name and price point. On the name, Spencer confirmed that Scarlett is only a working title, and as with the form factor, he says, “I hope somebody is not making their buying decision on this product based on what it’s named.”

Regarding the price of Scarlett, Spencer said he understands that pricing “will be important.” Microsoft has a price point in mind–that he didn’t share–but he acknowledged that it could change based on a number of factors, one of which is how Trump’s tariffs with China shake out.

“The price will be important. Clearly, price is one of those things that people want to know,” he said. “As we’re watching how the cost of the components are coming in, and things like tariffs and other things, trying to figure out what that price is going to be next year. We have a price point in mind; I think we’re going to hit that. But we want to make sure everything comes in right. We’ll get price out as soon as we can.”

Trump’s proposed tariffs with China would put a huge 25 percent tax on electronics–including video games–that are shipped into the United States. Microsoft, and others, manufacture consoles in the country and would in theory pass along the cost to consumers leading to a more expensive product. The tariffs aren’t in place yet, and they might not go through. Despite that, Nintendo has already decided to shift production of its Switch models–including its new, more powerful system–out of a China as a result of the threat.

Scarlett launches in Holiday 2020 with Halo Infinite releasing day-and-date as a launch title. Scarlett was at one point thought to be the name of Microsoft’s two-SKU next-generation console strategy spanning a high-power model, codenamed Anaconda, and a lower-spec system known as Lockhart. However, multiple recent reports state that Microsoft is no longer moving forward with the Lockhart system. At the same time, in the Xbox On video Spencer on multiple occasions references new consoles with plural terminology. It’s not clear what’s going on, and Microsoft has not commented officially on if it will release one or two next-generation consoles.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-boss-says-scarlett-design-is-a-cool-looking-n/1100-6467946/

Harry Potter Game Wizards Unite Professions Guide: Here’s How To Pick The Right Class For You

A big part of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is battling against the dark creatures, oddities, and magic-users of the Wizarding World. Some of the best rewards and rarest Foundables in the game are locked inside Fortresses, which put you into cooperative battles with other players on your side. If you’re a player of Pokemon Go, some of this will be familiar to you–but Wizards Unite adds a lot of depth to its battle system, as well. We’ve got even more Harry Potter: Wizards Unite coverage on our hub page.

When you level up enough, you’ll unlock the ability to pick a Profession, which lets you upgrade yourself with perks and abilities that make you more effective in battle and useful to your teammates.

Choosing a Profession is a big part of the game, as is spending the items you earn as you play in order to level yourself up over time. But how to choose whether you should be an Auror like Harry Potter, a Magizoologist like Newt Scamander, or a Professor like Albus Dumbledore? There are a lot of factors that go into the decision, including what kind of wizard you want to be, what battle stats are important to you, and how you’ll best contribute to a team of players.

We’ve run down the basics of the Profession system below to help you make the right decision. Here’s everything you need to know about Wizard Unite’s class system, including each class’s specializations, and what the stats you’ll be upgrading with the game’s RPG elements mean and how they work.

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Which Profession Is Right For You?

There are three different professions to choose from in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, which become available when you hit Level 6. Each has different benefits and drawbacks. All the professions have different areas of combat they specialize in, and are tuned to defeat different kinds of enemies. Picking the job that matches your playstyle in battle is important, but having a balanced team in situations like multiplayer Wizarding Challenges in Fortresses is also essential to victory. The good news is, you can switch specializations at any time, so if your team is short on someone to specialize in dealing with Curiosities or Beasts, you can change roles to fill the gap. There are three jobs from which to choose, each with its own unique tree of skills and perks you can earn over time.

Auror

Under the mentorship of none other than Harry Potter, Aurors are the folks who specialize in magical combat against the Dark Arts. Their abilities tend to focus on combat strength and dealing direct damage to enemies, so think of them as the frontline fighters of the Wizarding World. Aurors have the lowest Stamina, or health, of the three classes, but the highest Power. They also get more critical hits, and do more damage with them, than other wizards. Aurors do extra damage to Dark Forces enemies but take extra damage from Beast enemies.

Magizoologist

Rubeus Hagrid serves as mentor to Magizoologists, whose abilities are more aligned with caring for creatures–and other humans. This is your defensive healer class of wizards, wielding spells that are more about helping out the team than damaging enemies directly. They also have the highest Stamina of the three classes. Magizoologists are strong against Beast enemies and weak against Curiosities.

Professor

With Minerva McGonagle heading their order, Professors are a more versatile class of wizard. Their spells focus generally on buffing their teammates and debuffing their enemies, making them the status manipulators of a squad. This is your middle-of-the-road class, balanced between the power of Aurors and the defensiveness of Magizoologists, but with a lot of good traits of both. Professors do extra damage to Curiosities and take additional damage from Dark Forces enemies.

Upgrading Your Skills

You’ll need to keep an eye on a new set of items you’ll find as you venture through Wizards Unite, once you’ve unlocked Professions: Scrolls and Spellbooks. You’ll spend these in the skill trees of your professions to unlock new spells and passive perks that make you more effective in combat, like gaining additional stamina or dealing more damage.

Scrolls come from the chests unlocked when you complete Traces and catalog Foundables in your Registry, so they’re fairly easy to come by. Especially in the early part of the skill trees, you’ll mostly be spending Scrolls to advance and unlock different abilities and perks. Tougher to get are Spell Books, which are found in the chests when you complete Wizarding Challenges in Fortresses. If you want to advance your wizard abilities, you’re going to need to engage in multiplayer battles with other players.

The Stats

When you reach the Profession screen, you’ll see a page that gauges a series of stats you’ll increase for your wizard as you unlock perks in the skill tree. Their meanings aren’t immediately clear, so here’s what each one does:

  • Stamina: Your health in battles.
  • Power: The strength of the spells you use against enemies.
  • Protego Power: The strength of your protection spell, used to defend against incoming attacks from enemies.
  • Precision: The likelihood of landing a Critical Hit, which does increased damage.
  • Critical Power: The boost in damage you get when you land a Critical Hit.
  • Proficiency Power: The bonus strength of your spells against enemies your class is especially strong against.
  • Deficiency Defense: Added protection against enemies that do bonus damage to your class.
  • Accuracy: How likely your spells are to hit their targets.

Obviously, increasing all these stats is important, but some stats are higher for certain classes than others. Aurors are geared toward Power and Precision, Magizoologists toward Stamina and Defense, and Professors toward Accuracy and Proficiency.

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Important Stats: Proficiency Power, Deficiency Defense

There are lots of stats you can amp up in your skill tree as you progress through it, including the power of your offensive spells and the effectiveness of Protego, your magical defense. But when it comes to specializing in your particular Profession, you’re going to want to keep an eye on two stats: Proficiency Power and Deficiency Defense.

Proficiency Power denotes how much of a boost you get against enemies that are weak to your chosen Profession. If you’re an Auror, you’ll get a bonus against Dark Forces enemies such as Death Eaters, but Proficiency Power dictates how big a bonus you receive. Especially when you’re able to play with other specialized wizards on a team, boosting this stat will make you highly effective in your particular role.

Deficiency Defense is the other side of the coin. The higher the stat, the less of a hit you take against the enemies to whom you are weak–in the case of Aurors, that would be Beast enemies such as spiders. Regardless of your strategy, investing in Deficiency Defense will help you survive in battle no matter what kind of enemy you’re facing.

Coordinate With Friends And Teammates

It’s possible to change your Profession on the fly, but you’re going to access more perks and stronger abilities sooner if you specialize in one job instead of investing in all three skill trees. Therefore, if you mean to be a serious Wizards Unite player, you’re going to want to team up with other people in your area and coordinate your Profession choices with them. If you’ve got a strong team, you can spread out your Professions and capabilities, making you a much more effective unit in multiplayer. On the other hand, if you intend to play Wizards Unite more casually, any Profession will probably do the job.

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Choose Carefully

The strongest upgrades are the “Lessons” toward the bottom of each skill tree. Every time you spend Scrolls or Spell Books to unlock a node, you gain access to the ones beneath it–but you don’t have to purchase something from every single node in order to progress down the tree. That means it’s beneficial to be discerning about what lessons you invest in as you upgrade your wizard; you don’t need to buy everything, and doing so will impede your progress toward your best skills and perks. Pick your way down the skill tree to try to get upgrades that feed into your playstyle, so you can get the best upgrades sooner. You can always go back and fill in with additional nodes if you find you’re lacking in a particular stat later on.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/harry-potter-game-wizards-unite-professions-guide-/1100-6467945/

Fortnite’s Week 7 Secret Battle Star Location Guide (Season 9 Utopia Challenge)

Hot on the heels of Fortnite‘s 9.30 patch, Week 7’s challenges have now arrived on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile. Not only will completing these tasks help level your Battle Pass up and unlock more of Season 9’s cosmetic rewards, an extra bonus awaits if you can clear all seven challenges from a given week: a special loading screen that points to a free item hidden somewhere around the map.

The loading screen is the reward for completing one of Season 9’s Utopia challenges, and the item they point to varies by the week. Each even-numbered Utopia challenge will lead you to a Fortbyte, a new kind of collectible to find in Season 9. Odd-numbered Utopia challenges, on the other hand, will guide you to a free Battle Star, which will level your Battle Pass up by one full tier once collected.

Complete seven weeks’ worth of Season 9 challenges and you’ll unlock the loading screen pictured below. This week’s screen is set in the Pressure Plant, the new facility located where Season 8’s volcano stood. The clue this time should be fairly easy to spot; look on the left side of the picture and you’ll see a Battle Star on the set of stairs. That’s where you’ll find it in the game.

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Make your way to the Pressure Plant after you jump into a match and locate the stairs featured in the loading screen–the Battle Star will be floating in the air there, just as teased. Build your way up to it to collect it, then finish the match and you’ll level your Battle Pass up by one tier. If you need more help finding it, we’ve marked the Battle Star’s location on the map below. You can also see where we go to find it in the video at the top of this guide.

Unlike the aforementioned Fortbytes, which can be found by anyone who owns a Season 9 Battle Pass, the secret Battle Star will only appear if you’ve cleared its corresponding Utopia challenge and unlocked the above loading screen, so you can’t simply go to the right area and expect to find it if you haven’t done the necessary work. If you need helping finishing any of this season’s challenges, you can find tips for the trickier ones in our complete Fortnite Season 9 challenges guide.

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Fortnite’s 9.30 update arrived on June 18 and added a new item to the game, the Chug Splash, which can be thrown to heal yourself and other players within the range of its explosion. With the update, Epic also vaulted three items–the Boom Bow, Dual Pistols, and Dynamite–and tweaked a handful of other ones. You can find the full patch notes for the update on Epic’s official website.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/fortnites-week-7-secret-battle-star-location-guide/1100-6467925/

PS4 Deal: Get A Year Of PlayStation Plus For $40

PlayStation Plus is a necessity for many PS4 gamers as the annual membership grants access to online multiplayer as well as even bigger discounts on PS4 games. The subscription also nets members two free PS4 games every month (June’s freebies are quite good), as well as early access to certain demos and beta periods for games, exclusive content, and more. The 12-month membership generally sells for $60 a year, but right now, you can get a year of PS Plus for only $40 using promo code EMCTBVT44 at Newegg, a full 33% off the normal price. The membership is already discounted to $50, and the promo code will slash another $10 off.

GET 12 MONTHS OF PS PLUS FOR $40 »

After entering the promo code at checkout and purchasing, you’ll receive the membership code via email. The great thing is that you can stack PS Plus memberships, so even if you already renewed recently or don’t need to renew for a while, you can still take advantage of this deal, and the additional 12 months will just be added to your account.

This month, PS Plus members can download Borderlands: The Handsome Collection and Sonic Mania at no cost on PS4. Claiming these and other PS Plus games allows you to play them for free as long as you have an active PS Plus membership. Some great games are also marked down in the PlayStation Store right now with even steeper discounts for PS Plus members, including Persona 5 for $14, Persona 4 Golden for $10, Shenmue I & II for $18, and Sonic Adventure 2 for $3.74. If you’re a Monster Hunter World fan, the Iceborne beta is kicking off this Friday, June 21 with exclusive early access for PS Plus members.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ps4-deal-get-a-year-of-playstation-plus-for-40/1100-6467937/

Check Out Tetsuya Nomura’s Designs In New Final Fantasy 7 Remake Screenshots

Square Enix showed off a lot of Final Fantasy VII Remake during its E3 2019 presentation, including info on its new combat systems and March 2020 release date. The Japanese company is ready to show off more, as we’ve just been given a huge assortment of Final Fantasy VII Remake screenshots.

The screenshots look similar to Kingdom Hearts in aesthetic, but with a darker, grittier palette. They show iconic characters Aeris, Barret, Cloud, Tifa, and Sephiroth, all rendered in typical Testuya Nomura fashion. Some are stills from combat encounters with bits of the HUD visible, while others are likely from explorative gameplay sections. There also seem to be a handful of shots from possible in-game cutscenes, including an epic back-to-back shot of Cloud and Tifa. You can check out the new screens below.

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We discussed the modernization of Final Fantasy VII Remake in a feature article, with managing editor Peter Brown saying he “[fell] in love with the world and characters all over again” after going hands-on with the game on the E3 2019 show floor. “It would be far too premature to claim that the final product will be as amazing as my demo, but at the risk of sounding naive once again, I’m given hope as I recall the experience I had when I first played the original PlayStation demo in 1996, and how that experienced carried over to the full game,” Brown wrote of the demo.

Final Fantasy VII Remake will launch exclusively for PlayStation 4 on March 3, 2020. Square also confirmed that the hotly-anticipated RPG will be playable on PlayStation 5 and will span two discs worth of gameplay content.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/check-out-tetsuya-nomuras-designs-in-new-final-fan/1100-6467939/

The Best Gaming Funko Pops On Sale On Amazon Right Now

Funko Pop vinyl figures have taken fandom by storm over the last several years, expanding into nearly every arena of pop culture, with gaming being a huge part of that. Amazon is now offering a sale on a huge variety of the figures, including a lot of characters from many of our favorite games.

Most of the cast of Overwatch is here, along with several Pokemon and iconic characters from other franchises, such as Halo, Crash Bandicoot, Portal, and Horizon Zero Dawn. We’ve gathered our favorite gaming Funko Pops currently on sale below so you too can fill your desk with little, geeky friends like Aloy, Orisa, and Master Chief. If you’re still hungry for more Pops, check out the recently-revealed additions from San Diego Comic-Con 2019, as well as our ranking of the best and worst Avengers Pops.

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Pokemon – Bulbasaur

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Pokemon – Charmander

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Horizon Zero Dawn – Aloy

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The Witcher – Geralt

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Overwatch – Genji

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Overwatch – Reinhardt

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Overwatch – Hanzo

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Overwatch – Mei

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Overwatch – Symmetra

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Overwatch – Torbjörn

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Overwatch – Doomfist

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Overwatch – Winston

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Overwatch – Zenyatta

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Overwatch – Orisa

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Overwatch – Zarya

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Overwatch – Roadhog

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Overwatch – Junkrat

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Halo – Master Chief and Cortana

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Crash Bandicoot – Himself

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Portal – Turret

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from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-best-gaming-funko-pops-on-sale-on-amazon-right/1100-6467941/

The Harry Potter Wizards Unite Friend Code Spam Has Begun

Harry Potter Wizards Unite has launched early, offering an experience similar to Pokemon Go but set in JK Rowling’s Wizarding World–and with a little more polish at launch to boot. Like Pokemon Go, Niantic’s latest game has you scouring the real world for items to collect and taking part in social challenges with other players. That means if you want to get the most out of your wizarding experience, it’s time to start making some friends.

“In the course of your efforts to contain the Calamity, you’re sure to encounter other witches and wizards of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force,” a prompt in the game reads. “When you add them to your Friends List and work together, you’ll earn social benefits. The more Friends you have, the better the rewards!”

It goes on to state that if you meet up with friends at a Fortress to take on a Wizarding Challenge together, you’ll earn bonus Wizarding XP as well as extra Wizarding Challenge XP.

If you’re looking for friends in your area, a fan site called Accio Wizards Unite is already up and running and mapping friend codes. You can search by area or add your own to the database to find other local wizards and witches.

For more on Wizards Unite, check out how it differs from Pokemon Go and how to pick the right class for you. Or for a primer, read up on the basics of how the game works.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-harry-potter-wizards-unite-friend-code-spam-ha/1100-6467936/

Oninaki introduces the sovereign Lobelia and her son Leo, plus several new screenshots

Oninaki introduces the sovereign Lobelia and her son Leo, plus several new screenshots

Several dozen new screenshots for the Tokyo RPG Factory’s newest title.

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