The 2019 edition of The Game Awards takes place next week at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The annual event will hand out plenty of awards commemorating the year’s best games, content creators, and Esports personalities, alongside a host of new game reveals and surprise announcements. Show organiser Geoff Keighley has promised there will be 10 reveals during the show, saying that none of them have leaked thus far, so it’s sure to be worth tuning in for.

This year’s Game of the Year nominees are Control, Death Stranding, Resident Evil 2, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and The Outer Worlds. Three of those games–Control, Death Stranding, and Sekiro–are also nominated for Best Action/Adventure Game, Art Direction, Audio Design, and Game Direction.

Death Stranding leads the way with nine total nominations–including those for Mads Mikkelsen and Norman Reedus in the Performance category. Control follows with seven nominations, while Sekiro has five, Resident Evil 2 and Apex Legends both have four, and The Outer Worlds, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Gears 5, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and Outer Wilds all have three each. Other categories include Narrative, Score and Music, Ongoing Game, Games for Impact, and a plethora of Esports awards. You can see everything in the full list of awards and nominees.

The show also promises to be full of new game reveals and announcements. WolfEye Studios–which is helmed by ex-Arkane developers–has confirmed it will be showing its first game at the show. League of Legends developer Riot’s publishing division, Riot Forge, is also confirmed to be showing a new game at the event next week.

Other than this, however, everything else has been kept under wraps. A new Batman game is reportedly on the way, and it’s been speculated that it will be revealed during the show, but nothing has been confirmed and no footage or art has leaked yet. We also know that the rumored Resident Evil 3 remake will not be at The Game Awards, according to Geoff Keighley. Aside from new game announcements, there will also be live performances from Chvrches and Green Day, and there are sure to be celebrity appearances as well.

When Is The Game Awards?

The 2019 Game Awards takes place on Thursday, December 12, in the United States.

• US East Coast: 8:30 PM ET
• US West Coast: 5:30 PM PT
• US Central: 7:30 PM CST
• London: 1:30 AM GMT (Friday)
• Syndey: 11:30 PM AET (Friday)

Where Can I Watch The Game Awards?

The Game Awards will be streaming live right here on GameSpot, but it will also be available on a wide range of other platforms. Those include:

• YouTube
• Twitch
• Mixer
• Steam
• PSN
• Xbox Live
• Twitter
• Facebook

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-game-awards-2019-start-time-live-stream-and-wh/1100-6471978/

PlayStation has recently turned 25 years old, and the industry is looking back on Sony’s consoles and the legacy they have created. As developers who have worked with PlayStation for years taking a moment to reflect on the company’s past, some are also looking towards the future. In an interview with The Verge, Naughty Dog president Evan Wells has talked about his history in the industry, but has also discussed how the PlayStation 5 will be different from what has come before.

Naughty Dog’s history with PlayStation stretches back to the first console, and they’re responsible for series like Crash Bandicoot, Jak & Daxter, Uncharted, and The Last of Us. Wells, who joined the studio after being impressed by the original Crash Bandicoot, reflects on how the PlayStation 2 was an “enormous leap” from the original, and how games now “require massive teams and lengthy development cycles.” Talking about the distinction between the first PlayStation and the PlayStation 4, Wells says “they’re barely recognizable as the same product.”

Wells goes on to talk about the PlayStation 5, and what he sees as the major change it will introduce for players. “I think it will allow us to deliver the content in a way that has no friction for the players,” he told The Verge. “They’ll never have to wait to dive back into their games.” This seems to be in reference to the system’s solid state drive, which will allow for much faster loading. It gives some insight into what developers will be able to achieve on the new system, too–it remains to be seen if more immediate experiences will change elements of how games are designed.

Naughty Dog’s next game, The Last of Us Part II, will release for PlayStation 4 on May 29, 2020.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/naughty-dog-boss-talks-25-years-of-playstation-and/1100-6471975/

Fortnite Chapter 2’s Week 9 challenges are now live on all platforms. As usual, if you complete eight tasks from the set, you’ll unlock a special loading screen that features a subtle clue pointing you to a secret item that’s hidden somewhere around the game’s map.

Up to this point, that item was a different letter that ultimately spelled out “FORTNITE,” but now that all the letters are available, this week’s loading screen leads you to an XP drop, which is essentially like the secret Battle Stars from past seasons. If you need help tracking down the XP drop, we show you where it’s located below.

Where Is The Hidden XP Drop Location?

As previously mentioned, the clue that’ll guide you to the XP drop is hidden in the Chaos Rising loading screen, which you’ll unlock after completing eight challenges from that set. The loading screen features a character gazing at different monitors. Look closely at the monitor in the middle of the image and you’ll see the XP drop beneath the infamous purple cube that appeared way back in Season 5.

As it turns out, there’s a statue of the purple cube in the Kevolution Energy Plant, which is located in the northeastern portion of Steamy Stacks–that’s where you’ll need to go to find the hidden XP drop. We’ve marked the location of the area on the map below.

Fortnite hidden XP Drop location

How To Complete The Challenge

Now that we know where the XP drop is hidden, make your way to the aforementioned Kevolution Energy Plant and the drop will appear on the ground near the cube statue, just as the loading screen teased. Interact with it as you would any other item to collect it and complete the challenge. As was the case with this season’s hidden letters, however, the XP drop won’t appear on the map until you’ve unlocked the Chaos Rising loading screen and its corresponding challenge, so you’ll first need to complete this week’s other missions before you can go pick it up.

The first season of Fortnite Chapter 2 was originally slated to end this month, but Epic recently announced it would be extending the season into February 2020. It’s still unclear if that means we still have more weekly challenges to look forward to, but in the meantime, you can find maps and guides for this season’s previous missions in our Fortnite Chapter 2 challenges roundup.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/fortnite-where-to-search-hidden-xp-drop-in-chaos-r/1100-6471952/

Halo: Reach has just released on PC for the first time as part of the Master Chief Collection, bringing the beloved game to the system nine years after it released for Xbox 360. The game, which was brought to Xbox One as well and is available on both systems through Xbox Game Pass, was the final Halo game made by original developer Bungie before they moved onto Destiny. Many of the folks who worked on the game are reminiscing about it on Twitter using the hashtag #reachmemory, and some interesting information has come out about the game’s name.

David Candland, who designed much of the game’s user interface, says that the original intention was to just call the game “Reach”, without a “Halo” attached to it. Microsoft objected, insisting that the game be called Halo: Reach, for “brand recognition.” As Halo was and remains a major flagship of the Xbox brand, this makes sense–but as Candland’s tweet points out, they retained their simpler name on the game’s title screen.

As Candland told USGamer, this was probably, ultimately, the right decision. “I’ll bet it did impact sales. It also made googling the game much easier.” He also reveals that the cumbersome “Combat Evolved” subtitle on the original Halo was added by Microsoft, which is why it’s not on the title screen of the original game.

Elsewhere on the hashtag, Bungie art director Jason Sussman revealed that the game’s iconic finale (which we won’t explain here to avoid spoilers) was nearly cut for time, but that “everyone knew it needed to be part of the game,” and they managed to fit it in.

The original Halo is returning to PC soon too as The Master Chief Collection continues to roll out.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/halo-reach-was-nearly-just-called-reach-but-micros/1100-6471971/