After a long wait due to several delays, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night has finally released for PC, PS4, and Xbox One (with its Nintendo Switch version dropping on June 25). If you’re planning to grab the Metroidvania-style game on PC, here’s a deal to put on your radar (or send to any friends who haven’t bought the game yet). Bloodstained is $40 at full price, but Fanatical is currently offering the game for 21% off, which drops the price to $31.59. Plus, new Fanatical customers can save even more with GameSpot-exclusive promo code GAMESPOT25, which slashes an additional 5% off the price. If you’ve never shopped at Fanatical before, that means you’ll get Bloodstained for $29.98–not bad for a new and highly anticipated game.

To claim the deal, just add Bloodstained to your cart, and during checkout, you’ll see a place to “redeem a coupon code” in the righthand sidebar. Enter GAMESPOT25, and you’ll see the price drop to $29.98. But even if you’re a Fanatical regular, it’s worth noting $31.59 is still a great price (Steam is currently offering the game for $36). After completing checkout, you’ll receive an officially licensed Steam key for Bloodstained that you can redeem right away.

GET BLOODSTAINED: RITUAL OF THE NIGHT FOR $29.98 »

Both the on-site deal and promo code discount will be valid until June 27 at 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET (and 1 AM BST on June 28).

Created by former Castlevania producer Koji Igarashi, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night has been marketed as a spiritual successor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night in terms of gameplay. The 2.5D, side-scrolling RPG follows the story of Miriam, an orphan who must fight her way out of a demon-filled castle using powers derived from cursed crystals on her body. Aside from Miriam, you’ll also be able to play as Zangetsu from Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon at launch. A recent launch trailer also revealed Bloodstained will receive 13 free DLC updates post-launch, adding features such as local and online multiplayer, three new playable characters (including Shovel Knight), “nightmare” difficulty, speed run mode, character customizations, and more.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/exclusive-deal-get-bloodstained-ritual-of-the-nigh/1100-6467902/

Destiny 2‘s Eververse Store has caused some derision since the game’s release almost two years ago. Most of the items in the premium currency shop, which includes cosmetic items you can purchase with real money, can be earned by playing, but the most efficient way to get many of them was to take part in a convoluted scheme of spending money and converting in-game currencies. Starting in September, though, that’ll no longer be the case.

In a new post on the Bungie blog, game director Luke Smith detailed how the developer intends to change the Eververse Store starting on September 17 with the release of the game’s next expansion, Shadowkeep. One significant change deals with Bright Dust, one of the currencies used in the Eververse Store, which you can earn as you play. Because of the way the Eververse Store is set up, some items are purchased with Silver–the premium currency you purchase with real money–and others with Bright Dust. As Smith details in the blog, the best way to get Bright Dust right now is to buy items in the Eververse Store and “dismantle” them, which gives you Bright Dust in return–which you can then spend on new stuff in the store.

That results in players spending money on stuff they don’t want, so they can potentially unlock stuff that they do. Bungie doesn’t want that, so starting with Shadowkeep, Bright Dust will stop coming from Eververse items; instead, it’ll only be a currency you earn in-game for playing. You’ll still spend your Bright Dust in the Eververse Store on cosmetic items, but the difference is, you won’t have the incentive to spend money on Silver, to get Bright Dust, to unlock the items you want.

You also will no longer have to spend Bright Dust to regain items you previously purchased. As it stands now, reclaiming Eververse items from your “Collections,” the big database of everything you’ve unlocked in the game, requires Bright Dust. That won’t be the case going forward; you’ll instead re-buy your previously unlocked gear with Legendary Shards and Glimmer, the currencies you earn as you play.

Another change comes with some of the items you can buy at Eververse. The store’s current version of cosmetic armor pieces, which you earn in-game from random drops or purchase with Bright Dust, is going away–and that’ll make it easier to get spiffy premium clothes for your Guardian.

Right now, Eververse armor includes various perks, just like armor you earn in-game. But as Smith noted, Bungie has worked to make Eververse armor perks kind of, well, bad. That’s to avoid a pay-to-win system, where if you were willing to put up real cash, you could unlock better armor than other players earn just for playing. As a result, a lot of the armor in the Eververse Store gets ignored. Starting in September, Eververse armor will instead get changed to “ornaments,” or items that alter the look of other items. When you get an Eververse armor ornament in Shadowkeep, it will just change the look of the existing armor you’re already using. You’ll keep the perks and mods of the armor you got for playing while transforming its appearance to that of the Eververse item.

Those changes fit with a recent overhaul to the Eververse Store that came with Destiny 2’s last content update, the Season of Opulence. Bungie changed the store to offer a lot more one-off items for purchase with both Silver and Bright Dust, streamlining the process of buying the things you want, and lessening the game’s reliance on Bright Engrams, which are a bit like loot boxes.

It sounds like the changes coming in September will further separate Silver and Bright Dust items, so there’s less overlap between them. That should make Bright Dust items a lot easier to earn just by playing while making real-money purchases a bigger part in acquiring premium cosmetic items.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/destiny-2-is-making-another-big-change-to-the-ever/1100-6467905/

It’s not easy keeping up with every new trailer, announcement, gameplay reveal, and rumor in the gaming industry. This is especially true in the wake of E3, when the internet is flooded with news.

To help out any Xbox fans out there, we’ve compiled this cheat sheet on the most important news in relation to Microsoft or the Xbox One family of consoles. Don’t worry, cheat sheets for Nintendo and the Switch as well as Sony and the PlayStation 4 are in the works as well.

The information below is a general overview of the largest announcements from the past few weeks. That said, there are plenty of links in the text that will take you to articles that provide more in-depth analysis and information breakdowns.

14 First Party Games Detailed

In comparison to Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Nintendo’s Switch, Microsoft’s Xbox One has struggled to deliver as many quality first-party console exclusives. Microsoft aimed to flip the script by revealing information about 14 upcoming first party games at E3 2019. Though we still don’t have gameplay for many of them, the roster of titles looks like it will strengthen the game library of Xbox One.

Some of the games had already been announced, such as Gears 5 and Halo Infinite. But Microsoft’s E3 2019 press conference revealed new details about them. Gears 5 is releasing with a fun-looking PvE mode called Escape, for example, and Halo Infinite will be a launch title on Scarlett, Microsoft’s next-generation family of consoles (but it is still coming to Xbox One and PC).

Several new first-party titles were announced though. One of the more notable announcements came from Ninja Theory (a developer Microsoft acquired last year): the reveal of a new 4v4 melee combat-focused game it’s been working on called Bleeding Edge. A technical alpha for the game starts this month.

For more, check out:

• All The Xbox One Games From Microsoft’s Press Conference
• Forza Horizon 4: LEGO Speed Champions DLC Announced
• Microsoft Flight Simulator Returns
• Gears 5 Pre-Order Bonuses, Collector’s Edition, Jack Drone, and More
• Gears 5’s Terminator Crossover Features Linda Hamilton As Sarah Connor
• Gears Tactics Still In Development, Despite E3 2019 No-Show
• Gears 5 Is Coming This September
• Big Halo Infinite Showing Scheduled For E3 2020

New Xbox Hardware: Next-Gen Scarlett Console

Plenty of Xbox fans want to know what Microsoft has planned for its next-generation family of consoles. We learned a little bit more about it at E3, including confirmation that its codename is Scarlett, but Microsoft is still keeping some details close to the chest.

We do know that the console is currently scheduled for a Holiday 2020 release, that Halo Infinite will be a launch title, and that Microsoft claims it will be “four times” more powerful than an Xbox One X. Specifically, Scarlett contains a custom-engineered AMD processor capable of 8K resolution at 120fps, supports ray-tracing, comes equipped with a solid-state drive, and has a custom AMD Zen 2 CPU, Radeon RDNA architecture, and GDDR6 RAM. Details such as price point and hardware design are, for now, unknown.

For more, check out:

• You Might Be Thinking about Xbox Project Scarlett In The Wrong Terms
• Scarlett Isn’t Microsoft’s Last Console
• Microsoft Says It Knows What “Reasonable” Price Points Are For Scarlett
• Scarlett Aiming To Support All Xbox One Games And Accessories

Massive Showcasing Of Third-Party Titles

Microsoft delivered an expansive E3 press conference with announcements, new trailers, and gameplay reveals for dozens of third-party titles, all coming to Xbox One. The showcasing was huge, with more than a few surprises.

The three major highlights were the gameplay reveals for Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (both at EA Play and Microsoft’s E3 2019 press conference), release date announcement of Obsidian Entertainment’s The Outer Worlds, and a first look at From Software’s Elden Ring–an open world Souls-like game designed in collaboration with George RR Martin. During Microsoft’s E3 press conference, the company also showcased new trailers for Cyberpunk 2077 and Tales of Arise, and also announced Phantasy Star Online 2 is finally coming to the West.

E3 was a pretty big showcasing for upcoming Xbox One indie games too. The most notable of the lot probably comes from Layers of Fear 2‘s Bloober Team, which is making Blair Witch, a spooky-looking game based in the same world as the 2016 horror movie. 12 Minutes–a psychological thriller about a man stuck in a time loop–also looks very good, as does Afterparty and Spiritfarer (both of which tackle the concept of death in unique ways).

For more, check out:

• Fallen Order Director Talks Bringing A Bit Of Bloodborne To Star Wars
• Fallen Order Didn’t Start Out As A Star Wars Game
• A Closer Look At Fallen Order’s “Thoughtful” Combat
• Every Force Power In Fallen Order (So Far)
• Fallen Order Includes Rogue One’s Saw Gerrera
• Why The Outer Worlds Is Not Just Another Fallout
• The Blair Witch Game Is Canon (And You Can Pet The Dog)
• George RR Martin’s Contribution To Elden Ring
• Elden Ring Is Open World, Tough, And Focuses More On RPG Elements Than Sekiro
• Elden Ring And Dark Souls Sure Seem To Have A Lot In Common
• Cyberpunk 2077 May Appear On Next-Gen PS5 And Xbox Scarlett
• Cyberpunk 2077 Will Have Multiple Endings
• Cyberpunk 2077’s Behind-Closed-Door E3 2019 Demo Will Be Public Soon
• CD Projekt Red Thought It Would Be Impossible To Get Keanu Reeves For Cyberpunk 2077

Microsoft Acquires Yet Another Studio

After acquiring over half a dozen studios last year, Microsoft announced during E3 2019 that it’s acquired one more. The studio in question is Double Fine, which is responsible for Psychonauts and Grim Fandango. During E3, Double Fine CEO Tim Schafer showcased the first gameplay trailer for Psychonauts 2.

Game Pass Just Keeps Getting Better

Game Pass continues to be one of the best subscription-based game services out there. Over the past few weeks, Microsoft has continued to expand the service, launching a PC version, bundling it with Xbox Live Gold, and adding several stellar titles to its lineup.

Microsoft’s new Game Pass Ultimate combines Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Game Pass for PC, and Xbox Live Gold in one $15/£11 per month subscription. Both Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold subscriptions get you limited-time discounts on certain games, and Game Pass lets you freely download from a library of hundreds of titles which is expanding and shifting all the time. Recently, Microsoft added some incredible titles to Game Pass, including Metro Exodus, Thimbleweed Park, Guacamelee 2, Everspace, SteamWorld Dig 2, and Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition.

For more, check out:

• New Xbox Game Pass Titles: Rare Replay, Resident Evil: Revelations, And More

Microsoft’s Cloud-Streaming Future: Project xCloud

Google Stadia isn’t the only cloud-based game streaming service scheduled to launch this year. During E3 2019, Microsoft announced Project xCloud would release this October, a month before Google Stadia launches. Pretty much no other details have been supplied, so we’ll have to wait and see how exactly xCloud ultimately stacks up against Stadia.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-news-cheat-sheet-what-xbox-one-fans-need-to-k/1100-6467900/

After months of anticipation, Nintendo finally pulled back the curtain on its new Animal Crossing game for Switch–now dubbed Animal Crossing: New Horizons–at E3 2019. Since the company’s E3 Direct, more details about the title have begun to emerge, and one of the new tidbits we’ve learned is that it won’t support cloud saves.

In an interview with French website Gamekult (via US Gamer), game producer Higashi Nogami confirmed that, unlike most Switch titles, New Horizons will not allow players to back up their save data to the cloud. The reason for this, according to Nogami, is to prevent players from manipulating time in the game, thereby cheating.

This news doesn’t come as much of a surprise, particularly if you’ve been following the series. Each installment to date has taken measures to prevent players from cheating; in the past, if you quit the game without saving, the irritable mole Mr. Resetti would pop up the next time you loaded your file and scold you (although he’ll be out of a job in New Horizons thanks to the game’s auto-save feature). Mr. Resetti was optional in Animal Crossing: New Leaf for 3DS, but that title similarly didn’t allow you to back up saves.

New Horizons isn’t the only Switch game with this restriction, either; a handful of other first-party titles, namely Splatoon 2 and Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee, likewise don’t support cloud save backups, and that will presumably be the case for Pokemon Sword and Shield as well (although that hasn’t been confirmed yet). A few notable third-party games also don’t support cloud saves, such as Dark Souls Remastered, Dead Cells, and NBA 2K19.

Cloud saves are one of the perks you get for subscribing to the Nintendo Switch Online service. While New Horizons won’t support that feature, the game does require a Nintendo Switch Online subscription in order to play online with others. As we learned during a Treehouse Live demo, New Horizons will support up to eight players online and locally. Nintendo also confirmed the game will feature couch co-op for the first time in the series.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons launches for Nintendo Switch on March 20, 2020. We learned a lot of other details about the game during E3. This time around, players will be establishing their own village on a deserted island, and they’ll be able to use materials they gather from rocks and trees to craft tools and furniture. The game also makes some welcome quality-of-life improvements, like giving you more control over where other animals move in. You can read more in our Animal Crossing: New Horizons pre-order guide.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/animal-crossing-for-switch-wont-support-cloud-save/1100-6467836/