Monthly Archives: August 2018
Marvel’s Spider-Man Fans Are Arguing About Puddle Sizes
Some gamers who were looking forward to Spider-Man's release next week are claiming Insomniac Games has downgraded Spider-Man's visuals, leading to smaller puddles and several other perceived problems.
A Reddit post from Thursday morning by Ghulam_Jewel compares Spider-Man E3 and release screenshots, and is nearing 7,000 upvotes and 1,000 comments. Redditors are arguing over whether or not the textures look worse in the release versions – but one thing everyone agrees on is that what once was a giant puddle is now a smaller puddle.
Whether or not consumers will let this lead to a buying decision is unknown. While some fans have made jokes that it would be a silly reason to not buy Marvel's Spider-Man, others are sticking to their guns and letting Insomniac hear about it on Twitter.
Membership Reward Programs to Help You Save on Video Games
Membership reward programs are one of the best ways to save on games across the board. The savings for preorders might be diminished, but depending on how often you buy games, a membership or loyalty-rewards program might be able to close the preorder-savings gap, especially if you buy a lot of games and other qualifying products that accrue points. The bummer is you have to spend money to save money with rewards programs. But if you're buying lots of games anyway, you might as well take advantage of any extra offers retailers might have.
First Best Buy stopped taking new sign-ups for its incredibly generous Gamers Club Unlocked service, then Amazon announced it, too, was ending its generous discount on preorder games. But that doesn't mean there aren't still ways to save on your games, it just means they aren't nearly as cut-and-dry.
Ranking Every Single Jack Ryan
There aren't a lot of heroes like Jack Ryan. He's not a tough guy with a gun, he's a desk jockey and a family man with a bad back who does analysis for the CIA. Only sometimes - in the most extreme situations - does he need to go out in the field and save the day. And even then, he doesn't do most of the cool car chases and shootouts.
So why do we love Jack Ryan? It's probably because he seems plausible. As created by Tom Clancy, and brought to life in five movies and now a new Amazon television series starring John Krasinski (debuting August 31), he treats the geopolitical dangers that America faces with maturity and intelligence. In real life you don't want James Bond blowing up buildings just to interrogate a suspect. You want Jack Ryan crunching the numbers, knowing the history, figuring out how to solve problems before they even start.
This Red Dead Redemption 2 Blanket Costs $200
Update: GameStop has revealed some of the Red Dead Redemption 2 merchandise previously announced is now available for purchase, and we have a better idea of the items' price points.
The Red Dead blanket will run you $200, while a Red Dead 2 barrel candle costs $99. Two other types of candles cost $79.99 and $49.99. Check out the GameStop items (and others from other outlets) in the gallery below:
Original story follows:
Rockstar Games has announced a line of Red Dead Redemption 2 merchandise, dubbed the Outlaw Essentials Collection.
Avatar: The Last Airbender Is Getting Expansion Novels
Avatar: The Last Airbender is getting new expansion novels centering on the origins of Avatar Kyoshi.
Per EW, Nickelodeon is teaming up with Abrams Children’s Books on two YA novels about Kyoshi, who made her debut on the show in the first season. The character is considered to be the longest-living human Avatar in history.
F.C. Yee (The Epic Crush of Genie Lo) will write the novels, with Avatar and The Legend of Korra co-creator Michael Dante DiMartino serving as a consultant. The first book, titled The Rise of Kyoshi, will focus on Kyoshi establishing the Kyoshi Warriors and the Dai Li.
Shovel Knight: King of Cards Release Date Announced
Yacht Club Games has plenty of more Shovel Knight content to come, and the developer is now finally ready to share when the King of Cards, Showdown, and more are coming.
IGN can exclusively reveal that Shovel Knight: King of Cards, the third and final story-based expansion, will be released on April 9, 2019. Shovel Knight Showdown, previously revealed earlier this week by IGN, will also be released on April 9.
Yes, both to-be released expansions are debuting on the same day, because Yacht Club has also announced a physical version of Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove — the complete collection of Shovel Knight and all of its expansions, will see a physical, retail release on April 9, 2019 in both North America and Europe for the PS4 and Nintendo Switch.
Fan Voted Top 10 Dragon Ball Villains
With Dragon Ball Super: Broly’s release on the horizon, we started wondering: Who is the best Dragon Ball villain of all time?
We have our own thoughts, but we wanted yours, so along with our friends at Funimation, we put the question to the fans. The results... weren’t what we expected.
Here are your favorite Dragon Ball villains, with the votes tabulated based on the number of times a character was submitted and how many times those submissions were liked:
10. Marron - 1% of votes
Warriors Orochi 4’s Smartest Addition Is Some Very Dumb Magic
It feels like the Warriors series is constantly looking for a way to act smarter than its fans actually want it to be. The release of any given Dynasty, Samurai, or spin-off Warriors game will come with the promise of some new idea or other. We’ve had flexible combo systems, skill-based special gauges, weapon classes, squad controls. The last ‘innovation’ was the most sweeping of all, as Dynasty Warriors 9 swapped the series’ compact, enemy-packed battlefields for an astonishingly empty open world that, somehow, still wouldn’t run properly. The less said about that the better.
The thing is, I’d imagine the majority of Warriors fans are in the same boat as me. Perversely, this is a series beautiful entirely because of its mindlessness. Sweeping bright red enemy armies from the mini-map feels closer to the pleasure of a Tetris or an emptied pool table than the stresses of the hardcore action games Omega Force has seemed keen to copy in the past.
Fortnite Week 8 Challenges – Three Oversized Seats Map and Rift Spawn Locations
NPD: US Video Game Industry Has Record-Breaking Six Months
2018 has already been a huge year for video game sales, with US consumers reportedly spending $19.5 billion on video game-related products in the first six months of the year alone - a 40% increase on the first six months of 2017.
The news comes from the NPD Group (via Gamesindustry.biz), which reports that hardware sales are also at a seven-year high, totaling $1.7 billion in the first half of 2018. That's seemingly thanks to an increased market for the Xbox One, as well as strong support for the Nintendo NES Classic and SNES Classic Editions.