Yearly Archives: 2018
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Opening Weekend Had More Players Than WW2 or Black Ops 3
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 reportedly had more active players in its first three days than Call of Duty: WW2 or Black Ops 3, with sales reportedly surpassing $500 million worldwide.
According to a press release from Activision, the combined number of Black Ops 4 players across its three modes (competitive multiplayer, Zombies and Blackout) has surpassed that of Call of Duty: WWII and Call of Duty: Black Ops 3’s single player, multiplayer and Zombies modes.
Black Ops 4 has also reportedly set franchise records for most combined players, average hours played and total number of hours played on the current generation of consoles in its first three days. It also received a series record high of Twitch viewers for a Call of Duty opening weekend.
Batman Crosses a Major Line
Batman crossed a line during his big showdown with KGBeast this week.
Warning: this article contains spoilers for Batman #57!
KGBeast dealt Batman a serious blow last month when he came to Gotham and shot Nightwing through the head. The ongoing Nightwing comic is currently exploring how that injury has impacted Dickl Grayson, but this series has turned its attention to Batman's quest for revenge. This issue features the big showdown between the Dark Knight and KGBeast, and only one walks away.
Independent Games Stores Reportedly Won’t Get Red Dead 2 Until November
A number of independently owned video game stores aren’t expecting to receive copies of Red Dead Redemption 2 until November.
As reported by Kotaku, various independent game retailers, as well as the gaming rental service GameFly, don’t believe they will get copies of the game on its release date of October 26 like major retailers including GameStop, Best Buy and more are expected to receive. Instead, many are expecting copies to arrive a week or so later.
These retailers aren’t entirely sure why this is happening, though issues of supply constraints, as well as a fears of mom-and-pop stores potentially breaking the game’s street date, were both touched on by shop owners. Some stores have noted that there’s a possibility that they could receive Xbox One copies of the game on time, though the probability that many independent retailers won’t get any copies of the game within its first week of release is reportedly high.
IGN Fan Fest: Celebrate the Year in Games with IGN This December
Come ring in the year in games at IGN’s Fan Fest, presented by Kellogg’s Wild Berry Froot Loops, an event to celebrate gaming fandom with all of our fans! The industry’s biggest personalities will be there and we want you to join us on Friday, December 7 in Los Angeles, California. The party starts at 6pm at the Globe Theatre Los Angeles, and you can find more info on this event page.
Click here to RSVP for IGN Fan Fest
An Upcoming Book Is All About Video Game Butts
Things I Learned From Mario’s Butt: A Series of Gaming Butt Critiques is an upcoming 160-page illustrated coffee table book that’s currently being funded on Unbound.
The bulbous book is written by Kotaku’s Laura Kate Dale and includes full-color illustrations from Zack Flavin. The hardbound homage to digital derrieres is set to include insights into the rear ends of Luigi, Solid Snake, Cortana, Skull Kid from Majora’s Mask, Miranda from Mass Effect and much, much more. It is planned to include 55 original illustrations alongside 40,000 words about gaming’s most prominent posteriors.
Credit: Laura Kate Dale, Zack Flavin
6 Dark Souls Tips For First-Time Players
If you’re one of the many jumping into Dark Souls for the first time on the Nintendo Switch, you’re in for a treat! As we covered in our Dark Souls Remastered on Switch review, the remastered version is the ideal way to play.
But as you know, this series has earned a reputation for being hard for a reason. This is where we come in!
Here are some of the best tips to help new Dark Souls players ease into the dangerous and exciting world of Lordran.
Don’t Worry About Classes
Apple Announces October Event, iPad and Mac Announcements Expected
Apple has officially announced an upcoming press event, set to take place in Brooklyn, New York on October 30. Many expect Apple to announce updates to the iPad Pro, MacBook Air and potentially the Mac Mini product lines at the event.
As reported by The Verge, the next iPad Pro is rumored to have a slimmer bezel and include the Face ID unlock recognition system which debuted on the iPhone X in 2017.
Rumors also suggest that this new model will come with 11- and 12.9-inch display options, and possibly even replace Apple's proprietary Lightning port with a USB-C port. Apple has used proprietary ports for its mobile devices even before the 30-pin connector was introduced with the third generation iPod Classic in 2003, which was superseded by the Lightning connector in 2012.
The Flash: Are Cicada and Nora Connected?
The Flash has wasted no time in introducing the first major villain of Season 5. Team Flash had their first run-in with the metahuman killer Cicada this week. On the surface, we don't seem to know that much about this new villain or their background. But a few key moments at the end of "Blocked" suggest that Cicada may have close ties to Central City's newest speedster, XS.
Based on these scenes, we think Cicada and Nora may be related (which by extension would tie him to Barry Allen, too). Here's what we know from DC's Flash comics and how that may play into how Cicada is being portrayed on the TV series. Potential spoilers continue below!
Four Classic Valve Games Now Xbox One X-Enhanced
Four Xbox 360 era Valve games are now enhanced on Xbox One X.
Microsoft announced Half-Life 2: The Orange Box, Portal: Still Alive, Left 4 Dead, and Left 4 Dead 2 have all received Xbox One X enhancements, including higher resolution.
Technically, it's more than four games, since The Orange Box includes Half-Life 2, both expansion episodes for HL2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. Portal: Still Alive released after The Orange Box and contained additional content.
The new additions bring the total number of Xbox 360 games upscaled fro Xbox One X to 21. So far, the collection includes many of the 360's standout games such as Red Dead Redemption, Fallout 3, Portal 2, and Halo 3. Each enhanced 360 game in the program boasts a better resolution and nine times the pixels.
Battlefield 5 Campaign Story Details Revealed
In a series of tweets this morning, DICE detailed Battlefield 5's campaign, dubbed War Stories, which drops players into France, England, and Norway to fight for the Allied Forces during World War II.
In the War Story "Tirailleur," players will take on the role of a French colonial soldier from Africa to fight for the liberation of France, a country he's never seen and which doesn't accept him. "This is the untold story of forgotten soldiers fighting on a forgotten front," tweeted DICE.
"Under No Flag" gives a criminal a second chance to redeem himself after getting out of a London jail. Players will fight alongside a Special Boat Section unit and do "whatever it takes to get the job done."