PlayStation Classic Price Drops Even Further, Now Available For $20 (US Only)

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The PlayStation Classic’s price continues to freefall. Best Buy is currently offering the slimmed-down retro console for only $20 USD. That looks like the lowest it’s ever been. Go to Best Buy’s website here to buy one or learn more.

The PlayStation Classic released in December 2018 at $100 USD. Presumably in response to lower-than-expected sales, various retailers cut the price quickly and deeply.

Best Buy’s deal is the best out there, it seems. Amazon, Walmart, and GameStop are selling the PlayStation Classic for $40 USD, while Target has it for $60 USD.

The PlayStation Classic is a retro plug-and-play console in the style of Nintendo’s NES and SNES Classics. It features 20 classic PlayStation games into the box, including Metal Gear Solid, Grand Theft Auto, and Final Fantasy VII. The console features an HDMI connection and two wired controllers.

GameSpot’s PS Classic review expressed a series of disappointments, but, at only $20 USD, you might finally be compelled to jump in.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/playstation-classic-price-drops-even-further-now-a/1100-6468407/

Gears 5 Boss Clarifies The Game’s Stance On Smoking And Tobacco

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Gears 5 will not feature any depictions of smoking as part of a move to avoid glamorizing the addictive and deadly habit. Rod Fergusson, the head of developer The Coalition, said in a series of tweets that he has been against depictions of smoking in Gears “from the beginning.”

He pointed out that the concept art for the character Dizzy from Gears 2 was shown with a cigarette. But in the final game, the character doesn’t smoke. That’s because Fergusson stepped in and “stopped it.”

Some Gears of War games have featured depictions of smoking, but Gears 4 had no smoking and Gears 5 will not either. Fergusson said as long as he’s in control of the Gears series, smoking will never return.

The Gears of War series was created and originally developed by Epic Games, up until the Fortnite studio sold it to Microsoft in 2014 for an undisclosed sum.

Some stories have suggested that Gears 5 at one point featured depictions of smoking and were later removed, but this isn’t true, Fergusson said. He said there is “no censorship” because Gears 5 never had smoking to begin with; you can’t remove what was never there.

People on Twitter commented that this is a strange take because the Gears franchise is a Mature-rated series with brutal depictions of violence and alcohol abuse. Why focus so much on smoking? Fergusson said he isn’t trying to be the “moral police,” but instead he wanted to cleanse Gears of smoking to avoid glamorizing smoking and because of his own personal connection to lung cancer.

“I didn’t want to glamorize something that is addictive and kill you,” he said. “Wasn’t trying to me any moral police, just reflecting my beliefs after losing friends to lung cancer. If you had the ability to create a world, what would you change?”

According to Variety, the anti-smoking group Truth Initiative approached the TV company Turner–which broadcast this weekend’s Gears 5 Summer Series event–to discuss smoking in Gears 5. According to the report, “Turner collaborated with The Coalition to strip out smoking from the game,” but something seems to be lost here, as Fergusson pointed out Gears 5 never had smoking to begin with so it couldn’t have been removed.

The Truth Initiative has for years now called out video games for glamorizing smoking. The group criticized Blizzard for putting a cigar in Overwatch hero McCree’s mouth. “The creators of Overwatch may not realize that their choice to depict a hero with a lit cigar sends an influential and potentially addictive and deadly message to the young people who play the game,” the organization said.

In 2017, the Truth Initiative released the results of a study that claimed research demonstrates that there is a link between exposure to images of smoking and the probability of young people taking up smoking.

The Truth Initiative also released a list of video games aimed at teenagers that they say glamorize smoking, including Overwatch, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, We Sing, XCOM 2, and Injustice: Gods Among Us.

Gears 5 launches in September for Xbox One and PC. The game’s first technical test takes place this weekend–here’s how to get in and everything you need to know.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/gears-5-boss-clarifies-the-games-stance-on-smoking/1100-6468405/

Watch Dogs Legion Is Crowdsourcing Music From Fans Via Joseph Gordon Levitt’s Media Company

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Ubisoft has once again partnered with actor Joseph Gordon Levitt’s HitRecord studio for a unique promotion around user-generated content, this time for Watch Dogs Legion. As part of the collaboration, Ubisoft is looking to the community to create music for the open-world game.

HitRecord is asking the community to create 10 songs for Watch Dogs Legion which will play in the game on radio stations and generally throughout the game’s setting in London. As with other HitRecord projects, the songs are likely to be made collaboratively. That is, someone could write a bass line, another person could come up with guitar parts, someone else might lay down the drum beat. Other people can work together on lyrics and overall levels of polish. These are just a few examples; the possibilities, as you can imagine, are vast.

In all cases, HitRecord will pay $2,000 per song, which will be split among the people who contributed to it, and they’ll also have their names put into the game’s credits. People whose work is not selected for Watch Dogs Legion receive no payment.

HitRecord will review all final Watch Dogs Legion musical pieces, and at that time it will also ensure each artist is properly accounted for. After that, HitRecord will made a decision about how much money each contributor should receive for their part in creating the song. This information will be posted to HitRecord’s public site for everyone to see as part of what’s called the “Payment Proposal.” There is then a two-week period when people in the community can comment on the Payment Proposal, and then HitRecord will make its final decision; the first round of payments will go out for creators in January 2020.

More information about payment is available on HitRecord’s website by searching for Watch Dogs Legion here. You can sign up to create music for Watch Dogs Legion here on HitRecord.

HitRecord is looking for songs in the rock, hip hop, electronica, metal, and punk genres, and Ubisoft is seemingly looking for songs that are in some way related to London.

Some people, including game designer Mike Bithell (Thomas Was Alone, John Wick Hex) are speaking out against this partnership. Specifically, Bithell said he takes issue with the use of “spec work,” which is basically labor done for free with the hope of future payment.

“This sucks. Pay people for their labour. Stop exploiting fans and hobbyists, while devaluing the work of those with the gall to actually expect consistent payment for work done. Do better Ubi, we’re counting on you,” Bithell said.

HitRecord previously partnered with Ubisoft for a similar user-generated content program for Beyond Good & Evil 2. People also voiced their concerns about that “spec work,” and Gordon-Levitt responded by saying the controversy was due in part to people not understanding how HitRecord works.

“Honestly, this concern was sorta painful to hear,” he said in a post on Medium. “It’s not at all how I think of our community’s creative process. I do think that part of this disconnect is simple misinformation.”

Watch Dogs Legion launches in March 2020 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. It is a super-ambitious game due in part to the main hook that you can control basically anyone in the game. Check out the video embedded above to learn more.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/watch-dogs-legion-is-crowdsourcing-music-from-fans/1100-6468404/

Madden 20 Ratings: Here Are The Four 99-Rated Players

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The Madden 20 ratings reveal continues. Following EA’s announcement of all the highest-rated rookies, the company has now revealed Madden 20’s four 99-rated players. These are the best players in the game, and that’s before factoring in the new X-Factor super-abilities.

The four 99-rated players in Madden 20 (at launch) include Houston Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins, Los Angeles Rams DT Aaron Donald, Seattle Seahawks ILB Bobby Wagner, and Chicago Bears OLB Khalil Mack. These ratings, and those of everyone else in the game, can and most likely will change over the course of the real NFL season, depending on on-field performance.

Madden 20’s new X-Factor system grants highly rated players super-abilities that can be used at key moments, and these 99-rated players all have them. As Pasta Padre reports, “Hopkins wins aggressive catches against single coverage. Donald can place pressure on the QB even while still engaged in a block. Wagner gets tighter coverage and a higher chance of picking off a pass on contested catches. Mack’s pass rush leads to quicker block shedding.”

The rest of Madden 20’s ratings will be revealed throughout July leading up to the game’s release at the end of the month. Keep check in back with GameSpot for more.

Madden 20 launches on August 2 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/madden-20-ratings-here-are-the-four-99-rated-playe/1100-6468403/

Latest Persona 5 Royal Video Shows All-New Combat Mechanics, Hangout Spots, And Minigames

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It’s been a boon for Persona 5 fans lately as developer Atlus has been consistently revealing details on the upcoming Persona 5 Royal–the definitive version of the original RPG. And the latest “Morgana Report” video outlined several new features and mechanics that the game will include. These videos are in Japanese but translations have given us further insight into what Morgana has to say about P5R’s new content.

The new partner attacks that we’ve been seeing throughout P5R’s build up have an official name now; they’re called Show Time attacks. So far, we’ve seen Show Time attacks from the duos of Haru-Morgana, Ryuji-Yusuke, Ann-Morgana, Makoto-Ryuji, and most recently Yusuke-Ann. It’s not entirely clear how you’ll initiate these extravagant, high-damage attacks, but it was hinted that their availability will be tied to developing relationships between specific characters.

Another aspect of combat that has been further explained is changes to the Baton Pass mechanic. With a high-enough Confidant level, party members in the original game could transfer their extra turn (earned from critical or weakness hits) to another member. P5R will flesh out the feature even more to make it more effective. Taking a page out of the Persona Q book, spells and attacks can be used free of HP or SP costs after a Baton Pass. Furthermore, party members will restore a small amount of HP and SP when chosen to receive the extra turn. It appears that these perks will develop through a separate social ranking system, which was briefly shown in the Morgana Report video, where the player reached Rank 3 with Ann after a game of darts.

Combat will be even more dynamic because of accessories you can equip to other party members’ personas. Depending on what you equip, characters can cast spells outside of their original moveset; for example, we see Ann using an Ice-type attack through this system. It’s another similar element from Persona Q where characters can have sub-personas and cast different spells.

Yusuke and Ann shutting it down with their Showtime attack.

Outside of combat, social activities have expanded. Some of the hangout spots in the new part of town called Kichijoji were previously teased, but the latest video shows more of what these entail. You can actually take part in the DartsLive minigame (shout out to the Yakuza games) that’s in the pool hall Penguin Sniper. There’s also a jazz bar to chill at and get a drink with the team; you can see Joker and Makoto on a date at Jazz Jin and subsequently leveling up her persona. Like previous Persona games, P5R will feature a Shrine to visit during off hours, and it seems like it’ll provided boosts to Joker’s SP. Other small addition were showcased as well, like the ability to trade in gear you don’t use in exchange for points to spend on other equipment.

We’ve been keeping up with the new, upcoming version to Persona 5; you can catch up with our breakdown of the first P5R reveal trailer and compilation of all the P5R details that have come out since. While the game is set to release on October 31, 2019 in Japan, we’ll have to wait until sometime in 2020 with P5R launches worldwide, exclusively for the PlayStation 4.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/latest-persona-5-royal-video-shows-all-new-combat-/1100-6468372/

Prime Day PC Deals: The Best PC Gaming Deals Available Now

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Amazon Prime Day 2019 is finally upon us, and this year the shopping event is bigger than ever, spanning a full 48 hours on Monday, July 15 and Tuesday, July 16. Prime subscribers will have access to tens of thousands of exclusive deals across every category in the mammoth retailer’s stock. This year’s Prime Day also features more sales from competing retailers than ever before, with sales from Target, Walmart, Dell, and more that line up directly with Amazon’s shopping bonanza. Don’t fret! We’re here to help you sort through the deluge of deals and find the best for you.

PC gaming is bigger than it’s ever been, and that means there will be an abundance of great deals on games, gaming PCs, laptops, and all sorts of accessories. Most of the deals will go live on Monday, so bookmark this page as we’ll keep it up to date with the best PC gaming deals as we find them. In the meantime, Dell’s Black Friday in July sale is live right now for great deals on hardware, and if you’re looking for games to actually play with your new rig, head over to Green Man Gaming for a great publisher sale from Square Enix running through the weekend.

The Sims 4

Best PC game deals

At this point, almost any game you can play on console is now also available on PC, on top of lots of games that you can’t play on any other platform, making it the gaming platform with the largest available library of titles by a wide margin. PC gamers likely stocked up in the recently-finished Steam Summer Sale, but if you missed out on that, be sure to also check out Green Man Gaming’s publisher sale on Square Enix titles, including almost the entire Final Fantasy franchise. Discount game retailer Fanatical is also is offering GameSpot readers an exclusive code, GAMESPOT10, that will slash an additional 10% off the price of any game (excluding pre-orders and Star Deals), which will be active during Prime Day on July 15 and 16.

A lot more more game deals will go live on Amazon once Prime Day begins, but we’ve collected some good discounts that are already available below.

Alienware Aurora Gaming PC + Accessories

Best gaming PC deals

As mentioned above, Dell is running its own sale that’s already live now, and it includes some serious deals on Alienware gaming PCs and laptops. We absolutely expect other brands to have some great discounts as well once Prime Day properly begins, so stay tuned.

HyperX Pulsefire FPS Pro Mouse

Best PC accessory deals

PC gaming accessories is an enormous category that spans from budget to luxury, including everything from mice, keyboards, and gamepads, to monitors and headsets. PCs typically allow for a much wider range of customization than consoles, so Prime Day is a fantastic opportunity to get some high-end gear that matches your exact needs, without breaking the bank.

Deluxe accessory brand HyperX has announced its line-up of Prime Day deals, which will go live on Monday. They include a nice selection of professional-quality keyboards, mice, and headsets on deep discount.

Dell also has a nice selection of PC gaming accessory deals that are available right now as part of its Black Friday in July sale.

See more Amazon Prime Day 2019 coverage:

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/prime-day-pc-deals-the-best-pc-gaming-deals-availa/1100-6468393/

Toshihiro Kondo (Nihon-Falcom) Anime Expo 2019 Interview: Trails of Cold Steel III, and the state of Zemuria in the West

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Toshihiro Kondo (Nihon-Falcom) Anime Expo 2019 Interview: Trails of Cold Steel III, and the state of Zemuria in the West

Right before Anime Expo, we got the chance to sit down with Nihon-Falcom President, Toshihiro Kondo, and talk about Trails of Cold Steel III, and the company’s catalog as a whole.

source /interview/8727-toshihiro-kondo-nihon-falcom-anime-expo-2019-interview-trails-of-cold-steel-iii-and-the-state-of-zemuria-in-the-west

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey To Ban XP Farming In Creator Mode Missions

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Assassin’s Creed Odyssey recently introduced a Story Creator mode, allowing players to build their own custom missions. Ubisoft has noticed a glut of missions intended to easily boost XP, and has announced changes to the mode to prevent farming. The studio said in an update that it is doing this to maintain the integrity of the creative mode, as well as to keep the XP farming missions from crowding out other community stories that are using the mode as intended.

“Story Creator Mode was designed to be a tool for players to let their creativity and imagination run free as they build their very own Stories to share with others, using a modified version of the tools our own designers used to develop the quests in the game,” the update states. “These exploits risk jeopardizing the overall quality, integrity, and purpose of Story Creator Mode and results in less visibility for the creative, interesting and frankly fantastic community stories that have been published.”

The post details several steps it will be implementing going forward to reduce the instances of these XP farming quests. Those include filtering XP farming quests from its automatic recommendation system, hiding any stories that are reported for exploits, sanctioning those who misuse the tool, and updating the terms of use to reflect these changes. It also says it will be implementing “further solutions” in the future with other title updates.

While some of these changes do clearly connect with improving visibility for non-farming quests, banning the quests altogether isn’t necessarily needed for that goal. It’s worth noting that Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s steep experience ramp was one common point of criticism among reviews, including in our own. The in-game shop also offers a permanent XP boost item as a real-money purchase.

“When looking at Odyssey in the bigger picture, it can often feel like too much game for its own good,” Alessandro Fillari wrote. “There are numerous moments where the loop of exploring, completing missions, and traveling can slow the pace significantly. This is exacerbated by the expansive map, which can sometimes feel excessively big and a chore to travel through. … Several times throughout my journey, progression was somewhat exhausting, which made some of the more impactful and exciting moments in the story feel like a drag.”

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/assassins-creed-odyssey-to-ban-xp-farming-in-creat/1100-6468396/

TurboGrafx-16 Mini Release Date, Game Library Announced

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Konami has announced more release details for its retro TurboGrafx-16 Mini, including a release date and the full game library. The mini-console will include a library of 50 games, though some are repeats between their English- and Japanese-language versions. It will release on March 19, 2020.

The mini-console will be available for purchase from Amazon, and pre-orders will open as a Prime subscriber exclusive on the upcoming Amazon Prime Day, which starts on July 15. The name and design of the mini-console will be different based on territory based on its roots in the region–TurboGrafx-16 Mini in America, PC Engine Core Mini (after the Core Grafx) in Europe, and PC Engine Mini in Japan. The price is set at $100 / €89.99 RRP.

The full game line-up includes 24 TurboGrafx-16 games, and 26 PC Engine games. Each region will get roughly the same library, so English-speaking customers will get the collection of Japanese-language games too. The one exception is to the Japanese PC Engine Mini, which will Tokimeki Memorial instead of Salamander.

The libraries themselves have some crossover. Both libraries have the Neutopia games, Ys games, and Military Madness. But there are also some curious spots where the two don’t overlap. It has the Japanese version of Bonk, and then the English version of its sequel, Bonk’s Revenge. The two have different variations of Bomberman. Snatcher, one of the earliest games from Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima, was only ever released in Japan, so this only includes that version.

Check out the full line-up below.

TG-16 Games

  • Air Zonk
  • Alien Crush
  • Blazing Lazers
  • Bomberman ‘93
  • Bonk’s Revenge
  • Cadash
  • Chew-Man-Fu
  • Dungeon Explorer
  • J.J. & Jeff
  • Lords Of Thunder
  • Military Madness (Nectaris)
  • Moto Roader
  • Neutopia
  • Neutopia II
  • New Adventure Island
  • Ninjaspirit
  • Parasol Stars
  • Power Golf
  • Psychosis
  • R-Type
  • Soldier Blade
  • Space Harrier
  • Victory Run
  • Ys Book I&II

PC Engine Games

  • Akumajō Dracula X Chi No Rondo (Castlevania: Rondo Of Blood)
  • Aldynes
  • Appare! Gateball
  • Bomberman ‘94
  • Bomberman Panic Bomber
  • Chō Aniki
  • Daimakaimura (Ghouls ‘N’ Ghosts)
  • Dungeon Explorer
  • Fantasy Zone
  • Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire
  • Gradius (Nemesis)
  • Gradius II – Gofer No Yabō (Nemesis II)
  • Jaseiken Necromancer
  • Nectaris (Military Madness)
  • Neutopia
  • Neutopia II
  • Ninja Ryūkenden (Ninja Gaiden)
  • PC-Genjin (Bonk)
  • Salamander
  • Snatcher
  • Star Parodier (Fantasy Star Soldier)
  • Super Darius
  • Super Momotarō Dentetsu II
  • Super Star Soldier
  • The Kung Fu (China Warrior)
  • Ys I&II

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/turbografx-16-mini-release-date-game-library-annou/1100-6468394/

Two Big Switch Games Are Holding Timed Events With Splatoon-Themed Rewards This Weekend

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After two years, Splatoon 2‘s final Splatfest event will take place next week, marking the end of the game’s monthly competitions. To commemorate the occasion, Nintendo is hosting Splatoon-themed events in two first-party Switch games this weekend.

First is Tetris 99‘s fifth Maximus Cup, which runs from now until 11:59 PM PT on July 15 (7:59 AM BST on July 16). Like previous Maximus Cups, this event is point-based; you’ll earn a certain number of points depending on what number you place each round, and if you manage to rack up at least 100 points before the event ends, you’ll unlock a cool Splatoon 2 theme for the game. You can see the theme in action in the video below.

In addition to Tetris 99, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is holding a Splatoon-themed Spirit Board event this weekend, which likewise runs from July 12-15. Throughout the event, various characters from the Splatoon series will appear in the Spirit Board every hour, including the Legend-class Squid Sisters. You’ll also earn twice as many Spirit Points each time you battle one of these characters during the event.

Splatoon 2’s final Splatfest kicks off July 18 and runs for an extended 72 hours, concluding on July 21. The theme this time is an apocalyptic one, asking players to choose whether they’d like a world ruled by order or chaos. During the first 48 hours of the event, all 23 Shifty Station stages from previous Splatfests will return to the rotation, while a brand-new Shifty Station–featuring appearances by Pearl and Marina–will be featured for the final 24 hours.

Following the final Splatfest, Splatoon 2 will receive one more content update. Patch 5.0 will arrive in late July and add a Splatfest Turf War option to private battles. This mode will let you play on any of the game’s 24 Shifty Station maps and transform other stages into their nighttime versions, just as they appeared during Splatfests.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/two-big-switch-games-are-holding-timed-events-with/1100-6468388/