Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp has introduced its paid membership tier, which we first heard about earlier this week. The new model, which follows in the footsteps of Mario Kart Tour‘s premium subscription, is called the Pocket Camp Club.

As reported by VGC, the new Pocket Camp Club subscription service is available at two different tiers, and a one month free trial of the lower tier is also available. For $2.99 / £2.99 a month you can get the Happy Helper Plan, which will let you appoint an animal as Camp Caretaker when you’re not in the app, meaning that they will gather items and look after things in your absence. This tier will also reward you with 60 Leaf Tickets every month.

The second, more expensive tier, is the Cookie & Depot Plan. It costs £7.99 / $7.99 a month, and in addition to the Camp Caretaker, it will also let you choose from five previously-released cookies to acquire new items once per month. Players with this subscription will also get access to a warehouse that lets them store up to 5000 items of furniture and pieces of clothing. There will be other advantages across both plans, including reduced crafting times and previews of upcoming items.

It’s no surprise to see Nintendo incorporating a system like this into Animal Crossing on mobile, considering how successful Mario Kart Tour has been. Nintendo has expressed some wariness over loot boxes, too, so further subscription models in the future for Nintendo mobile titles seem likely.

The next title in the Animal Crossing series, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, will release for Switch on March 20, 2020.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/animal-crossing-pocket-camps-subscription-service-/1100-6471662/

Half-Life: Alyx has been properly unveiled with a first-look trailer ahead of the VR game’s March 2020 release. We’ve learned a lot about the game so far, but more information continues to come in as we pore over the details. One thing that many fans were quick to spot was that some of the voices in the trailer sounded different, and one, coming out of the mouth of a new character, was instantly recognisable.

New Zealand actor Rhys Darby has confirmed on Twitter that, yes, that was him in the Half-Life: Alyx trailer. Darby, who is best known for his roles in Flight of the Conchords as the band’s inept manager and as the leader of the werewolves in Taika Waititi’s What We Do In The Shadows, tweeted what was clearly meant as a response to the question that was being asked across the Internet: “is that Rhys Darby?”

Darby’s character, who we do not have a name for, appears to be in league with Alyx in the upcoming full-length prequel. Speaking of Alyx, she’ll also be voiced by a new actor, with Ozioma Akagha stepping into the role originated by Merle Dandridge. Speaking to PC Gamer, designer Greg Coomer explained that the gap in time since Half-Life 2 released, and the fact that the game will portray a younger Alyx, a new voice actor was necessary. “When we heard Ozioma’s performance we knew we’d found the right Alyx,” he said. Akagha previously voiced Plastic in Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst and Barbara Casey in Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. Dandridge has voiced her support for the project, despite no longer voicing the character.

Eli Vance has also been recast, as sadly the original voice actor Robert Guillaume passed away in 2017 at the age of 89. The character will be voiced in Half-Life: Alyx by James Moses Black (This Is Us, Black and Blue). Dr Wallace Breen voice actor Robert Culp has also passed away, which means that if the character reappears in Half-Life: Alyx, he will have a different voice actor too. As PC Gamer notes, though, Mike Shapiro (G-Man), Ellen McLain (Combine Overwatch broadcasts), and Tony Todd (the Vortigaunts) are returning.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/half-life-alyx-recasts-alyx-eli-and-others-and-fea/1100-6471659/

Rocket League‘s big update that will remove loot crates is right around the corner. A new post on the official Rocket League website has confirmed that the Blueprint update is coming on December 4 at 10AM PST, alongside Rocket Pass 5. Blueprints will replace loot crates and add transparency to the game’s loot system–you know what a Blueprint is for, and it’s up to you whether you want to spend the credits to build it, or whether you want to either hold onto it or trade it.

Once this update happens, players will be able to accrue Blueprints from their online matches, and all Crates in your collection will be converted into Blueprints as well. Your Keys will be converted into Credits, since there will no longer be anything to open with keys. Crates will actually stop dropping 25 hours before the update, though, from 9AM PST on December 3. You won’t be able to purchase DLC packs or trade between players during this time either, until the update is live.

Simutaneously, some vehicles and items that were previously locked to paid DLC will be made available to everyone. The Supersonic Fury, Revenge of the Battle-Cars, and Chaos Run DLC content will be made free for all, and immediately placed in your inventory. The Item Shop will open after this update, which will replace the Showroom. This is where you will be able to buy premium DLC vehicles and other items in the future.

Rocket Pass 5, the game’s take on a battle pass, will arrive on the same day. The full reveal of this pass won’t arrive until next week, so we’re not sure exactly what it will offer, or how it will differ from Rocket Pass 4, just yet. Competitive Season 13 will start at the same time, giving all players new rewards to work for–this means that you have limited time left to earn your Season 12 rewards.

Rocket League’s Blueprint update, along with Rocket Pass 5 and Competitive Season 13, will arrive simultaneously on PC, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/rocket-league-the-blueprint-update-and-rocket-pass/1100-6471657/

Half-Life: Alyx, a Half-Life pre-sequel, will release for all SteamVR-compatible headsets in March 2020. Valve has released a new trailer for the upcoming VR game and also revealed additional details about what players can expect–including community-building tools at launch.

The Half-Life: Alyx Steam page reads: “A set of Source 2 tools for building new environments will ship with the game, enabling any player to build and contribute new environments for the community to enjoy. Hammer, Valve’s level authoring tool, has been updated with all of the game’s virtual reality gameplay tools and components.”

The Steam page also reveals that pre-ordering Half-Life: Alyx prior to the end of 2019 will unlock special rewards, such as alternative skins to customize the look of Alyx’s arsenal. Purchasing the game early will also unlock special in-game Half-Life: Alyx-themed content for both Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2. You get a discount for pre-ordering too, knocking Half-Life: Alyx’s $60 USD launch price tag down to $54 USD. A copy of the game comes for free with a Valve Index VR headset.

Prior to deciding on Half-Life, Valve considered basing their new VR game on other franchises instead, such as Portal. “Portal is so much about flinging yourself through space and through portals that we thought, ‘Well, we’re just going to make people sick with this game,'” Valve software developer David Speyrer said. “A full-on Portal game seemed challenging.” When the team decided to put their new VR game into the world of Half-Life instead, Valve refrained from titling the project “Half-Life 3” in order to avoid the “terrifyingly daunting prospect” of the name.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/half-life-alyx-ships-with-community-building-tools/1100-6471654/

A new set of Fortnite Chapter 2 challenges has arrived, and if you’ve been following along this season, that means there’s another hidden letter to find somewhere around the island. This week, you’ll need to search for another hidden T, and its location can be found in the special loading screen you unlock after completing eight Trick Shot challenges. If you’re having trouble finding the letter, we show you where to go below.

Where Is The Hidden Letter T Location?

As previously mentioned, the clue that will lead you to the letter T is found in the special Trick Shot loading screen, which you’ll only unlock after completing eight challenges from that set. The screen depicts two 8 Ball skins having a tense stand-off in the middle of a forest. If you look closely at the background of the loading screen, you can spot the letter T hidden beneath a bridge.

The forest in question is Weeping Woods, which is located just northeast of Slurpy Swamp, and the bridge where the T is hidden is in the northern portion of the area–you can find it easily enough by following the river. You’ll need to make your way there to find the letter.

How To Complete The Challenge

Once you know where to look, head to the bridge depicted in the Trick Shot loading screen and the T will appear beneath it. Interact with the letter as you would any other item in the game and you’ll complete the challenge, which means you only need to find one more letter to spell out “FORTNITE” and unlock this season’s special Battle Pass skin.

Before you set off to find the T, keep in mind that the letter will only appear after you’ve unlocked its corresponding challenges, so you’ll first need to finish all the other missions from the Trick Shot set before you can collect the letter. Fortunately, most of those are fairly straightforward, but one that may give you some trouble tasks you to dance at the Pipe Man, Hay Man, and Timber Tent.

The first season of Fortnite Chapter 2 was originally slated to end in early December, but Epic recently announced it is extending the season into February, so you have a lot more time to complete any outstanding challenges. If you need help with those, you can find all our maps and guides in our full Fortnite Chapter 2 challenges roundup.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/fortnite-hidden-t-location-where-to-search-letter-/1100-6471652/