You never know what you're going to get with Nintendo on Black Friday. Unlike the PS4 and Xbox One, super great Switch deals aren't guaranteed, even when it comes to games. But based on the Black Friday ads that have released so far from Best Buy and Target, Black Friday 2019 will buck that trend. A wide selection of great Nintendo Switch games will be on sale, including excellent first-party exclusives for some truly awesome prices.Where to find the best Nintendo Switch game dealsThis year, retailers like Amazon, Target, Best Buy, GameStop, and Walmart will have some of the most popular Switch games for 33% off, dropping the price on games like Mario Tennis Aces, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Super Mario Odyssey from $60 to $40. The exception here is Target, which will have those three games for $30 each in a limited-time doorbuster deal on Thanksgiving before the price returns to $40 for the rest of the weekend.Those five major retailers will likely account for the vast majority of deals on Switch games. That said, if you prefer to buy digitally, the Nintendo Eshop usually has its own sale on games, so you'll want to check those out during Black Friday weekend too. At this time, Best Buy and Target have released their Black Friday ads. We'll continue updating our list of the best Switch game deals below as more retailers drop their Black Friday ads.For more Black Friday Switch deals, check out our guide to the best Switch console and accessory deals, which includes a familiar Switch bundle and discounts on multiple Switch controllers. Black Friday 2019 Deals & News Black Friday 2019: The Best Xbox One Deals So Far Black Friday 2019: The Best PS4 Deals So Far Best Buy Black Friday 2019 Ad: Best Gaming, Tech, And Entertainment Deals Black Friday 2019: When Does It Start, Deals To Expect, And More Target Black Friday 2019 Ad: Best Gaming, Tech, And Entertainment Deals At Target Amazon's Early Black Friday Deals Are Live Black Friday 2019: Best Nintendo Switch game dealsAssassin's Creed III Remastered -- $15Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night -- $20Collection of Mana -- $20Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy -- $15Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled -- $15Diablo 3: Eternal Collection -- $25Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and Lion King -- $15Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze -- $40Final Fantasy X/X-2 Remaster -- $25Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age -- $25Friday the 13th: The Game Ultimate Slasher Edition -- $20Just Dance 2020 -- $25Killer Queen Black -- $15Kirby Star Allies -- $40The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild -- $30Lego DC Super-Villains -- $20Lego Harry Potter Collection -- $20Lego Jurassic World -- $20Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 -- $20Lego The Incredibles -- $20The Lego Movie 2 -- $20Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle -- $15Mario Tennis Aces -- $30NBA 2K20 -- $30Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch -- $25Octopath Traveler -- $40Overcooked 2 -- $20Overwatch: Legendary Edition -- $25Rayman Legends Definitive Edition -- $15Rocket League -- $20Scribblenauts Mega Pack -- $15Sid Meier's Civilization VI -- $20Sniper Elite III Ultimate Edition -- $30Splatoon 2 -- $40Spyro Reignited Trilogy -- $25Star Wars Pinball -- $20Super Dragon Ball Heroes World Mission -- $25Super Mario Odyssey -- $30Super Mario Party -- $40Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD -- $25Team Sonic Racing -- $20The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition -- $45Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair -- $20Yu-Gi-Oh Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution -- $25Info from Gamespot.com

Google Stadia is launching in just over a week, and the company has been quiet on which games will be available right out of the box when the first customers get to log in on November 19. Now it has broken that silence, outlining the full launch lineup as well as another batch of games to come online throughout the rest of the year.In the announcement, Google says it will start with 12 "carefully chosen" games, with an additional 14 more coming by the end of the year. The launch lineup does notably include two fighting games, Mortal Kombat 11 and Samurai Shodown, along with the rhythm games Thumper and Just Dance 2020. Those all seem aimed at addressing latency concerns right out of the gate.They join other big console releases like Assassin's Creed Odyssey, the rebooted Tomb Raider series, and Red Dead Redemption 2. The lineup also includes Destiny 2, which is included with a Stadia Pro subscription. Given that Stadia Pro is part of the Founder's Edition, and those will be the only people playing on day one, that means everyone playing will get it.Check out the full listing of both launch day games and others coming throughout the rest of the year.Google Stadia Launch LineupAssassin's Creed OdysseyDestiny 2GyltJust Dance 2020KineMortal Kombat 11Red Dead Redemption 2ThumperTomb RaiderRise of the Tomb RaiderShadow of the Tomb RaiderSamurai ShodownGoogle Stadia 2019 LineupAttack on Titan 2: Final BattleBorderlands 3Darksiders GenesisDragonball Xenoverse 2Farming Simulator 19Final Fantasy XVFootball Manager 2020Ghost Recon BreakpointGridMetro ExodusNBA 2K20Rage 2Trials RisingWolfenstein YoungbloodInfo from Gamespot.com

Pokemon Sword and Shield finally arrive on Nintendo Switch this week, and The Pokemon Company is offering a few freebies for early adopters. Not only can you claim a Meowth capable of Gigantamaxing if you pick up a copy of either title by January 15, those in the US can also receive a free outfit for their trainers.From November 16-25, you'll be able to claim a free download code for a track suit trainer outfit at a participating Walmart location. To get the code, you'll first need to download and install the Pokemon Pass app on your smartphone. Once you have the app, you'll need to head to a Walmart and use the app to scan a QR code that's on display at the store. After you've gotten a download code, you'll need to follow the steps below to input that into your game and download the outfit:Launch your copy of Pokemon Sword or ShieldSelect Mystery Gift from the menuSelect Get a Mystery GiftSelect Get with Code/Password and follow the prompts to connect onlineInput your download codeVisit the fitting room in a boutique to access the outfitIf you're eager to pick up Sword and Shield this weekend, you'll want to head to Walmart anyway, as the retailer is offering the games for $49.94 each on launch day. This promotion is in-store only, so if you want to take advantage of the deal, you can kill two birds with one stone and get the free download code as well. For more early deals and pre-order bonuses, be sure to check out our Pokemon Sword and Shield pre-order guide.As previously mentioned, you can get a free Pokemon in Sword and Shield as well. If you purchase a game by January 15, you'll be able to receive a free Gigantamax-capable Meowth via Mystery Gift. If you have save data of either Let's Go Pikachu or Eevee on your Switch, you'll also receive a Gigantamax-capable Pikachu or Eevee within the games. Pokemon Sword And Shield News Pokemon Sword Vs. Shield: Exclusive Pokemon Confirmed For Each Version Pokemon Sword And Shield Pre-Order Guide: Bonuses And Discounts Pokemon Sword & Shield: Here's Every Gen 8 Pokemon Revealed So Far Info from Gamespot.com

The second season of Titans, the DC Universe original series, is still underway on the streaming service. Given that the upcoming second season of Doom Patrol will be available on both DC Universe and the upcoming HBO Max streaming service, some were wondering just how long the former would last. Now, Titans has been renewed for a third season, which will air on DC Universe in the fall of 2020, ensuring the service will be staying put.Warner Bros. announced the news without giving any details about what Titans Season 3 would entail. However, if the second season is any indication, get ready for even more new additions to the cast of characters plucked from throughout DC mythology. Thus far, Season 2 has seen the arrival of Superboy (Joshua Orpin), Deathstroke (Esai Morales), Dr. Light (Michael Mosley), and Blackfire (Damaris Lewis), just to name a few.Another season of Titans on DC Universe is an exciting prospect, but it's not the only original programming coming to the service. The second season of Doom Patrol will continue to air on DCU, alongside HBO Max. Meanwhile, the animated Harley Quinn series will premiere on November 29. The animated series Young Justice: Outsiders has also been renewed for another season.There are also a couple of projects for the service that remain a bit of a mystery. A Stargirl series was previously announced for DC Universe, though a release date has yet to be announced. It was also revealed at New York Comic Con that BizarroTV, an anthology series, was being developed.Info from Gamespot.com

With a new generation of consoles on the horizon, curiosity definitely strikes when thinking about what they're going to bring to the table in terms of graphical power. Will they deliver a transformative jump for next-gen? Will they do native 4K with better textures and higher frame rates? Or is there a feature cooking in the background that we don't know about yet? We can count on one graphical capability that'll be new to the console world when PlayStation 5 and Xbox Scarlett ship late next year: ray tracing.What Is Ray Tracing?Ray tracing is an advanced method of illuminating 3D environments. With ray tracing, light sources cast out linear rays of light which then bounce off the surface it hits to another and to another until it reaches your eye, or the camera view in that 3D environment. Another factor ray tracing accounts for is the fact that different surfaces (like glass or water) will reflect, refract, and absorb light differently. These calculations lead to a more accurate representation of how light works in the real world.Areas obstructed by objects and blocked from light rays are properly darkened as a result (meaning proper shadows) and a scene's illumination looks more realistic. Ambient light can also affect the darkness of shadows and ray tracing accounts for this, too--not every shadow is pitch black due to varied environmental illumination. Light will behave and react accordingly with mirrors, glass, and liquid as well. Scenes are able to represent changes to lighting conditions since rays are being cast and calculated in real time, making for realistic and dynamic environments.It's much more clear when you see it for yourself, and Nvidia has an in-depth walkthrough of ray tracing in action:Since light sources can cast thousands of rays and can bounce off multiple objects and surfaces with varying properties, it becomes a burdensome rendering technique for graphics processors. These are all calculations that your hardware has to process in real time and considering just how complex and intense ray tracing is, it's unreasonably difficult for current consoles to do it.What It Takes To Do Ray TracingRay tracing is currently making waves in the PC hardware space and first hit the consumer market last year with the launch of Nvidia's RTX family of video cards. These graphics cards are built with Nvidia's Turing GPU architecture which include dedicated processing cores--called RT Cores--to solely focus on ray tracing and work alongside the main GPU cores. Currently there are 8 video cards in the Nvidia RTX lineup equipped to handle ray tracing in PC games:Titan RTXRTX 2080 TiRTX 2080 SuperRTX 2080RTX 2070 SuperRTX 2070RTX 2060 SuperRTX 2060Ray tracing is also on a spectrum; Nvidia allows games with RTX ray tracing features to control how many rays can be cast in order to perform ray tracing. This means previous generation graphics cards can at least toy around with the tech, but it's largely inadvisable since you can take drastic hits to your framerate.The interesting aspect to next-generation consoles aiming for ray tracing is the fact that hardware manufacturer AMD will be building the graphics processors for both Xbox Scarlett and PS5. Currently, AMD does not have a GPU on the market specifically built for ray tracing and has only said that it has plans to dedicate the shader cores on its video cards to do ray tracing in the near future. Of course, future console hardware will be much different than what's currently available for PCs, so we'll have to wait until we get more details on how next-gen platforms will handle it.But Why, Though?You might be wondering, how is that any different from how light and shadows work in games without ray tracing? By comparison, the more common method, called rasterization, is a quicker way of doing lighting and shadows though it is more crude. But it doesn't account for the constant bouncing of light rays since it doesn't include real-time calculations. Nvidia has a more detailed explanation rasterization.When it comes to how ray tracing actually affects a scene of a game, I often think about Nvidia's presentation of how ray tracing looks with Metro Exodus' global illumination. Without ray tracing, the inside of cabins are fairly lit, albeit flat and not entirely accurate in terms of how it would be in the real world. With ray tracing enabled, light that shines through the windows bounce around and illuminate the areas of the cabin properly, leaving certain corners darker in the players view:Animated films, such as Pixar movies, have been using ray tracing for years. But of course, these are not interactive experiences that need to be rendered in real time, and film studios also have access to powerful machines that can render these scenes efficiently. But gaming hardware is slowly getting there. Sharper shadows, better ambient occlusion, and proper global illumination are all the benefits that animation and games get out of ray tracing.Many high-profile games have included Nvidia's RTX ray tracing tech and there will be more to come. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is the latest release to use the tech and next year's highly-anticipated Cyberpunk 2077 will take advantage of it, too. Developers typically work alongside Nvidia to implement it properly, and so far, here are a few of the big games:Call of Duty: Modern WarfareControlBattlefield VMetro ExodusShadow of the Tomb RaiderCyberpunk 2077 (upcoming)Atomic Heart (upcoming)Quake IIMinecraftThe term ray tracing is increasingly getting thrown around in discussions about the next generation of gaming hardware, and if you haven't been keeping up with the PC hardware then you may be lost; hopefully we've at least provided a fundamental understanding of it. To put it simply, ray tracing is a graphical rendering technique that has light sources casting rays that behaving as they would in the real world to provide more realistic looking shadows, reflections, and overall illumination--however, it's hardware-intensive.We don't know much about how next-gen consoles will be handling ray tracing, but don't expect every PS5 and Scarlett game to include it or run the full gamut of ray tracing features. The tech is still in its early days and only a handful of PC games have it implemented today. If you want to get into the weeds of ray tracing, you can check out this Nvidia developer blog that explains the heavy technical details.Info from Gamespot.com

The cast for The Batman just keeps growing. Recent Julliard grad Jayme Lawson has been cast in a mystery role, according to Collider. She will be joining Robert Pattinson as Batman himself, Bruce Wayne, Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle AKA Catwoman, Paul Dano as Eddie Nygma AKA The Riddler, and Jeffery Wright as Commissioner Gordon. This news comes hot on the heels of the announcement that Colin Farell is in talks to play Oswald Cobblepott AKA The Penguin and Andy Serkis is in the running for Alfred Pennyworth. The Batman News Penguin Will Be Third Villain In New Batman Movie, True Detective Star In Talks - Report The Batman Has Found Its Alfred - Report Considering how rogues-heavy the cast list is currently, there's potential for Lawson's role to be more heroic. Given that Reeves has described the project as more of a "detective" story rather than a traditional superheroic brawler, Lawson may be playing someone like Vesper Fairchild or Silver St. Cloud. Or, maybe the opposite is true and we're looking at another of Batman's many femme fatal-style enemies--Poison Ivy is a bit more supernatural than the current roster, given her powers and ability to control plants, but she may not be completely out of the question. Similarly, Talia Al-Ghul is a go-to for Batman stories wanting to play up the detective angle, given her father Ra's and Bruce's long-standing intellectual rivalry.Whatever the case may be the speed at which news about The Batman is rolling out means we'll likely not be left in the dark for too long.The Batman hits theaters June 25, 2021. Info from Gamespot.com

Doctor Sleep, director Mike Flanagan's Stephen King adaptation and direct sequel to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, had a less-than-stellar opening weekend at the box office, and will probably lose money. But Warner Bros., which produced the film, is unlikely to be too worried considering some of their recent success stories.Doctor Sleep opened this weekend to a lower-than-expected $14.1 million, well below the $25 million that was anticipated. The opening weekend tends to be a strong indicator of how well the film will ultimately perform at the cinema, and horror films are usually front-loaded (unless they become cultural phenomenons, like the original Paranormal Activity, which now has a seventh entry in the works). It's very unlikely that Doctor Sleep will make back its budget in domestic ticket sales.According to Deadline, the low performance of Doctor Sleep is likely to result in a $20 million loss, assuming the film is able to earn $100 million globally. Its global total currently stands at $34,100,000, with the film having not yet opened in several markets, so this remains a possibility. However, there is also the possibility of the film dropping off further and only making $80 million worldwide. Deadline speculates thatwith a budget of around $55 million and marketing costs to take into account, this would bring losses closer to $30 million. This likely comes as a surprise to executives at Warner Bros., as the film has reviewed moderately well (75% of reviews on aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes are positive) and it serves as a sequel to one of the most iconic horror movies of all time.This is not Warner Bros.' only big loss this season, as Deadline points out that both The Goldfinch and Motherless Brooklyn also under-performed, but the company is unlikely to be too fazed considering the recent successes of Joker and It: Chapter 2 (also a Stephen King adaptation). These two films are the seventh and eighth highest grossing films in the US this year respectively, with Joker now standing as the most profitable comic book movie ever made; it will likely pass the $1 billion mark internationally soon. It: Chapter 2 has taken in $462,545,680 worldwide, including a domestic total of $211,345,680, and is successful enough for the studio to now be considering a prequel, despite a lack of source material to adapt.Doctor Sleep is certainly not the biggest bomb released in November 2019, either--Terminator: Dark Fate is poised to lose up to $100 million, despite the popularity of the franchise in China and the fact that the movie is actually pretty good. Info from Gamespot.com

Anthem, BioWare's beleaguered shared-world squad shooter for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, will celebrate the holiday season with a new winter-themed event. During Icetide, the world of Anthem will be blanketed in snow and ice, as everything freezes over for winter. There will be celebrations and festivities, but also unique challenges for players to deal with over this period.A preview of the upcoming event ran over the Public Test Server for PC players over the past weekend, ending on November 11. During the preview period, the Tyrant Mine Stronghold was available to players, giving them a taste of the new missions offered up by the limited-time seasonal change. In freeplay, players also encountered more outlaws to fight, Snow Globe Storms to deal with, and an all-new time trial event. Fort Tarsis and the Launch Bay were also kitted out in decorations for the festive season, which will return when Icetide is made available for all players. It's unclear when Icetide will be available in Anthem, but it's fair to assume that we'll see it before Christmas. BioWare's game recently added Mass Effect armor to celebrate N7 Day, and made major changes to how content will be released for the game in the future. It's also faced setbacks as major figureheads leave the project: lead producer Ben Irving left the studio in August, followed by head of live service Chad Robertson earlier this month. Hopefully Icetide will reward fans who have stuck with the game during its difficult first year. Info from Gamespot.com

The next big streaming service, Disney+, is almost here. It includes movies and TV shows from Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, Nat Geo, and of course, Disney. Now, you can watch every episode of Gargoyles in one sitting, you lucky duck. But how do you actually watch Disney+?As for how to watch Disney+, as of this writing, there is no official guide from Disney nor confirmation of what devices you can watch it on. According to the official site, "Disney+ will be accessible on a wide variety of devices, including PC, mobile phones and tablets, and a wide range of connected TV devices."However, there are a few places, such as Forbes and What's On Disney Plus, reporting how to watch the streaming service. It's the typical batch of apps and devices you already use for other services like Netflix, Hulu, and others.How To Stream Disney+ (Apps And Platforms)iOS devices (iPhone, iPad)Android (Phones and Android TVs)Web browsersApple TVFire TVRokuChromecastXbox OnePlayStation 4Samsung and LG Smart TVsWe'll keep you updated with any added devices or ways to watch Disney+ content. Keep in mind, that at this time, this is just for users in the US, Canada, and the Netherlands, as Disney+ launches in these countries first. Australia and New Zealand will be getting Disney+ on November 19, and the service will hit Europe in Spring 2020. Disney+ will cost $7 a month for the standalone service. However, you can bundle it with ESPN+ and the ad-supported version of Hulu for $13 a month. There are also discounts if you sign up for an annual subscription, essentially getting two months for free.Disney+ is available on November 12.The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors. GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.Info from Gamespot.com

We're just hours away from The Mandalorian arriving on Disney+--which launches on November 12. Before you get a chance to watch the newest entry into the Star Wars universe, you can check out a brand-new sneak peek, which debuted during Monday Night Football on ESPN.In the latest video, which you can see below, we get to see The Mandalorian spills someone's drink in a bar. Because of this, the owner of said drink is not happy, but what he doesn't realize is that this stranger can easily beat him up. What follows is a brief fight scene where these bar patrons get beaten up quickly, and The Mandalorian puts one of them in frozen carbonite. Obviously, that gentleman was his bounty.Check out this special look at #TheMandalorian and start streaming the series tomorrow, only on #DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/Yy9kTng425 — The Mandalorian (@themandalorian) November 12, 2019The Mandalorian stars Pedro Pascal as the titular character, Gina Carano as Cara Dune, Carl Weathers as Greef Carga, and Werner Herzog in an unnamed role--although he's seemingly working for what's leftover of the Galactic Empire. Nick Nolte is also on the show, and we think he's playing The Mandalorian's partner-in-crime, an unnamed Ugnaught.That's not the only Star Wars original series headed to Disney+, there is also an Obi-Wan Kenobi series starring Ewan McGregor in the works as well. And that's not all that's headed to the streaming service from Star Wars. There are 18 movies and TV shows from the franchise headed to Disney+ on Day One.Disney+ costs $7 a month or $70 annually, and it can be bundled with ESPN+ and an ad-supported version of Hulu for $13 a month.The first episode of The Mandalorian arrives on Disney+ on November 12. Episode 2 will land on November 15, and then, every Friday, a new episode of the series will arrive.The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors. GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.Info from Gamespot.com

Carrion, a reverse-horror game where you play as the monster, was first shown at GDC 2018 and is due to release in 2020. The game was announced as a PC release, and will be made available on Steam at launch. It casts you as a many-tentacled monster that smashes its way through the facility it was born in, killing the scientists that created you and destroying as much of the building as you can.Now the game has been announced for Xbox One as well, ahead of a playable demo being available at X019 in London from November 14-16. The game will launch alongside the PC version, although neither release has a specific launch date yet beyond '2020'. A short trailer has been released alongside the announcement, although it does not reveal anything new about the game.We also know, thanks to a tweet by Xbox Game Pass (embedded below), that some new titles will be announced for Microsoft's subscription service during X019--although it seems unlikely that Carrion will be one of them, since publisher Devolver Digital's co-founder Graeme Struthers is wary of game subscriptions.Melissa said we can't announce what we're announcing at X019 yet, so this is just an announcement that we will be announcing announcements pic.twitter.com/9fVeDuACac — Xbox Game Pass (@XboxGamePass) November 11, 2019A sneak-peek demo was available for a limited time over Halloween. It's no longer available, but you can check out 15 minutes of gameplay footage we snagged from it.Info from Gamespot.com

A new trailer for the upcoming animated Scooby-Doo movie Scoob! has been released, hinting at a film that covers a long period of time and sends Shaggy and Scooby on an intergalactic adventure.The trailer flashes all the way back to Scooby and Shaggy's first meeting, showing how Scooby-Doo got his name, as well as the first meeting between Shaggy and the rest of Mystery Incorporated. It also features ghosts, robots, and aliens--it's not yet clear whether it will end with them pulling off a bad guy's mask, or if there are actual extraterrestrials involved.The voice actors who have traditionally voiced the characters have been replaced with Hollywood celebrities, with the exception of Frank Welker, who has played Scooby-Doo since 2002's A Scooby-Doo! Christmas and will reprise the role here. Shaggy is now played by Will Forte, Fred by Zac Efron, Daphne by Amanda Seyfried, and Velma by Gina Rodriguez. The film also stars Mark Wahlberg, Ken Jeong, and Tracy Morgan.Scoob! is due to release on May 15, 2020. It is the big-screen debut of director Tony Cervone, who previously directed Scooby-Doo! And Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery, Tom and Jerry: Spy Quest, and The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age Smackdown. The screenplay is written by Kelly Fremon Craig (The Edge of Seventeen, which she also directed) and Matt Lieberman (Playing With Fire, The Addams Family 2019).Info from Gamespot.com

America is broken, and it's up to you to put it back together again. It's a tall order. A lot of people believe in it, but you're not sure you do. It'll take a lot of lonely, dangerous walks and exceptionally heavy lifting, and it's not really clear what America means in the first place. For some reason, you set out anyway, trudging through wetlands and rocky hills on foot, not fully knowing or understanding where you're going. Other than the monsters you can't quite see, there's not really anyone else around most of the time--just you and your thoughts, one foot in front of the other.On one level, Death Stranding is about America. But your actual goal in setting out across the country is to help people, bring them together, and forge connections, not for the vague concept of America but for the sake of helping the people within it. Death Stranding is unrelenting in its earnestness and optimism--certainly not without its critiques of America, nor without its challenges and setbacks, but inherently hopeful nonetheless. It is a dense, complex, slow game with a plot that really goes places, but at its core, it never stops being about the sheer power and purpose we can find in human connection, and that is its most remarkable achievement.Hands Across AmericaRebuilding the country is as simple as getting every far-flung city, outpost, and individual onto one network, the bones of which were laid down by a pseudo-government organization called Bridges. As Sam Porter Bridges (played by Norman Reedus), all you have to do to win people over is bring them packages; most people never go outside due to mysterious monsters called BTs, but unlike most people, Sam can sense them enough to sneak past them and get important cargo to its destination.Deliveries can be arduous. You're evaluated on your deliveries across a few categories, but the condition of the cargo can make or break a run, and there are a lot of factors working against you. The landscape can be extremely punishing, from expanses of exhaustingly rocky hills to rivers that are too deep and wide to cross unaided. On top of BTs, you also have to contend with Timefall, a kind of rain that rapidly accelerates aging and deterioration for most of the things it touches. Extended exposure to Timefall can damage or completely ruin your cargo, as can slipping and falling, getting hit by an enemy, or, in some cases, just being a little too rough with it. Even the smallest rocks can trip you up, too. In order to keep your footing, you need to pay close attention to where you're stepping, keeping your balance with the triggers while on rough terrain or when carrying a lot of stuff.Once you reach your destination, though, you're showered with praise. The recipient will likely thank you to your face (albeit as a hologram), and then they'll give you a series of social media-style likes. You're inundated with a multi-page results screen itemizing all the likes you received for the delivery and in which categories, plus an overall rating for the delivery itself, no matter how small--it's positive reinforcement turned up to 11. These likes then funnel into each of the delivery categories like experience points, and as you level up, you can carry more weight or better maintain your balance, among other benefits. Deliveries also feed into a connection rating with each city, outpost, or person, and as that increases, you acquire better gear and sometimes gifts to reward your efforts further.In short, you give a lot and get a lot in return. There is a relatively small number of mandatory deliveries to advance the story, but there's a seemingly unlimited number of optional deliveries, and I often found myself picking up orders destined for any place that was on my way. It's a cycle that's easy to get swept up in; no matter how difficult a delivery or how far the distance, you will at least be met with gratitude, likely feel fulfilled from having completed a tough delivery, and often given a tool to make future deliveries a bit easier. Most importantly, though, increasing your bonds with people is how you get them on the network, and the network is what elevates this core loop beyond the simple satisfaction of completing tasks and getting rewards.The chiral network is a kind of souped-up internet that allows you to 3D print objects, which is incredibly useful and a strong incentive in itself. When at a terminal connected to the chiral network, you can print ladders and ropes for traversal, new boots as yours wear out, repair spray for damaged containers, and basically anything else you need to safely deliver cargo so long as you have a blueprint for it. You can also print a portable printer that builds structures for you out in open areas covered by the network--things like bridges, watchtowers, and generators, the latter of which are critical as you start to use battery-powered exoskeletons and vehicles.The chiral network also grants you access to the online component of the game, which is absolutely essential. You never see other players in the flesh, but their impact is all around you; once an area is on the network, you can see structures and objects left behind by other players in the course of their own journeys, plus helpful signs they've put down just for those who come after them. You can pick up someone else's lost cargo and deliver it for them, too, knowing that someone else may find yours at some point and do you the same kindness.In Death Stranding's best moments, the relief and gratitude you can feel toward someone you don't even know is an unrivaled multiplayer experience. At one point in my playthrough, I was being chased by MULEs, human enemies who love to steal cargo. I was on a bike, tasked with a time-sensitive delivery, almost out of battery and totally unequipped to deal with external threats. In my panic, I drove my bike into a ravine. As I slowly made my way up and out of it, I watched as my bike's battery dipped into the red, and I dreaded getting stuck with all my cargo and no vehicle, still quite a ways away from my destination. I rounded a corner and found myself in the charging area of a generator placed by another player, as if they'd known I'd need it in that exact spot at that exact moment. They probably just put it there because they needed a quick charge, but to me, it was a lifeline.You can give and receive likes for these player-to-player structures, and just like with standard deliveries, it's a strong incentive to do something helpful for someone else. In the earlier sections of the game, I was using other people's structures far more than I was leaving behind help for others. But I wanted to pay it forward and know that my help was appreciated, so I started going out of my way to build structures I myself didn't really need; the map shows the online structures in your instance, making it easier to spot areas you could fill in for others. At first, the likes system seems like a pretty obvious commentary on social media and our dependence on external validation. But it's not so much a critique as it is a positive spin on a very human need for acceptance, and the system does a remarkable job of urging you to do your best for those around you, NPCs and real people alike. Feeling truly appreciated can be a rare occurrence in life, and it's powerful in its simplicity here.The Super BB MethodThe first few hours of the game are the slowest, and a large part of that is because you don't have access to the online component right away. It's an incredibly lonely stretch of time during which you mostly just walk; the work you do early on is especially laborious in the absence of advanced gear, and it serves to give you an appreciation for other players and better gear as you move forward.Even as the gameplay opens up, you continue to get a lot of story exposition with almost no explanation. It can all seem kind of goofy at first, and you can get lost in the metaphors; every city you need to add to the chiral network has "knot" in its name, for example, and they are all referred to as "knots" on a strand that connects the country. There's bizarre and unwarranted product placement in the form of Monster Energy drinks and the show Ride with Norman Reedus. Guillermo del Toro's likeness is used for a kind of dorky character called Deadman, and there's a woman named Fragile in a game about delivering packages.But the story really does go deeper than that. In keeping with the theme of human connection, each of the core characters you meet and work with has their own story to tell. They all have a unique perspective on death that lends them an equally unique perspective on life, and unravelling their characters, down to the true origins of their often literal names, contributes to the overall tapestry of Death Stranding's take on the human experience. As they open up to Sam, Sam opens up to them in turn, developing into a distinct character in his own right out of the reserved, emotionless man he appears to be at the start. I grew to love Sam, Fragile, and Heartman especially, and even the characters I didn't like as much add to the game's overall message about hope and love in the face of adversity.By far my favorite character--and the most important one--is BB. BBs are infants in pods that can detect the presence of BTs, and they're issued to porters like Sam to help them navigate dangerous territory. You're told to treat BBs like equipment, not real babies, but it's impossible to think of your BB that way. It's full of personality, giggling when happy and crying when stressed out; it even gives you likes from time to time. There aren't many children left in Death Stranding's isolated, fearful world, but BB is your reminder that the future is counting on you, regardless of how you feel about America itself. The love that grows between Sam and BB is nothing short of heartwarming.Connecting with this story, just as with connecting with NPCs and other players, can take work. It's not a story that immediately clicks on a surface level, and the dramatic mystery and off-the-wall science don't make too much sense at first blush. But it's an emotional story first and foremost, and making sense of things--while entirely possible, particularly if you read the letters and interviews that detail small bits of lore as you go--is not as important as reflecting on how it makes you feel.You have plenty of opportunities to do that, too. In the quiet moments of travel, usually as you near your destination, music might start to play. The soundtrack, which is largely composed of one band--Low Roar--is phenomenal, the kind of contemplative folk-ish music that suits a trip alone through a meadow or down a mountain. Because the act of walking is so involved, it's not a time to detach completely and zone out; it's a time to feel your feelings or at least consider what's next in your travels.Fight, But Not To The DeathYou can just as soon be ripped out of that headspace, though, by a shift to the haunting music that signals BT territory. The otherworldly growls of BTs as they close in on you can be terrifying, and early on, your best bet is to freeze in your tracks and hold your breath for as long as you can so you can quietly sneak by them. But there are times when you have to fight a BT in its true form, and for that, you have specialized weapons to take them down. These BTs aren't the ethereal humanoid shapes that float above the ground but huge eldritch horrors that screech under clouds of blood. The combat is mechanically simple--you mostly have to move around a bit and hit them before they hit you--but the sequences are visually and aurally arresting.You don't get a gun that works on live enemies until 25 or so hours in, but even then, it's non-lethal. You are actively guided away from killing in Death Stranding, because when people die, their bodies basically go nuclear and level cities, leaving nothing but craters and BTs in their wake. On top of that, the main human enemies are MULEs, former porters just like Sam that have been corrupted by an automated world--they've essentially become addicted to snatching cargo in their desperation to have a job and a purpose as more and more people become replaced by machines. They're not evil, and killing them seems like, well, overkill; it's easy enough to knock them out with the nonlethal methods you continue to unlock as the game progresses. I didn't kill a single one in my playthrough, though punching them is satisfying.While BTs and MULEs are a concern when delivering cargo, there's also Mads Mikkelsen's character, a man who's introduced through memories Sam sees when he connects to BB's pod. He gets his own dedicated segments that punctuate hours of simple deliveries, and these highly contained, much shorter sections are striking in their art direction and juxtaposition to the rest of the game. It's not immediately clear what he is, whether it's an enemy, potential friend, or something else entirely, but he's captivating in his ambiguity.The most cartoonish enemy is Troy Baker's Higgs, a terrorist whose depravity seems to know no bounds. Of all the characters, Higgs is the weakest, with far less nuance to him than anyone else in the cast. He's really just there as a Big Bad to motivate you in a more traditional video game sense than delivering packages and helping people, but he and his band of faceless terrorists are more a means to an end than full-fledged villains. He's the catalyst for some of the major BT fights, and in the end, perhaps an extreme reminder that it's possible to stay hopeful even when things are darkest.Death Stranding argues in both its story and its gameplay that adversity itself is what makes things worth doing and life worth living.Death Stranding is a hard game to absorb. There are many intertwining threads to its plot, and silly names, corny moments, and heavy exposition belie an otherwise very simple message. That comes through much more clearly in the game's more mundane moments, when you find a desperately-needed ladder left behind by another player or receive a letter from an NPC thanking you for your efforts. It's positive without ignoring pain; in fact, it argues in both its story and its gameplay that adversity itself is what makes things worth doing and life worth living. It's a game that requires patience, compassion, and love, and it's also one we really need right now.Info from Gamespot.com

Ubisoft has confirmed the rumors that Year 4, Season 4 of Rainbow Six Siege will be titled Shifting Tides. Like previous seasons, Shifting Tides adds new Operators to the game.Team Rainbow is getting two new Operators in Shifting Tides: one Attacker and one Defender. The new Attacker is codenamed Kali, while the new Defender goes by Wamai. Kali is the very rich head of a successful private military contractor while Wamai is former Kenyan Navy Special Forces who now works for Kali.Kali is the first Operator to carry a bolt-action sniper rifle as her primary firearm, and the heavy-duty weapon packs a punch. It fires bullets with enough firepower to penetrate through both destructible walls and Operators, allowing you to kill enemies hiding behind teammates or walls. Kali's gadget is the LV Explosive Lance, an under-barrel projectile that tears through walls--even reinforced ones--and destroys all gadgets within its radius once it reaches the other side. Think Ash's Breaching Rounds combined with Thatcher's EMP Grenade.Wamai doesn't have anything special in regards to firearms, but he makes up for it with one of the coolest gadgets that Siege has ever seen. The Mag-Net System allows Wamai to attach powerful magnets to pretty much any surface. These magnets activate when they sense projectiles of a certain speed (faster than someone walking but slower than a bullet, like a thrown grenade) and pull them away before they detonate. If carefully placed, Wamai can use his Mag-Net System to cause Attackers to grenade a hostage, flashbang themselves, or--in the case of certain Operators like Ash or Capitão--accidentally use their own gadgets against their teammates.Rainbow Six Siege is available for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. A spin-off, Rainbow Six Quarantine, is scheduled to release in 2020.Info from Gamespot.com

HBO has released a new teaser video for Westworld Season 3--and it's a strange one. The video introduces viewers to a company called Incite, a firm that harnesses unprecedented computing power to solve the world's unsolvable problems.Jefferson Mays plays Incite's founder, Liam Dempsey Sr., who quips, "We're not Silicon Valley vaporware. We have unprecedented computing capabilities analyzing data from life's most unsolvable problems."This company claims to be able to control the climate and get people the best jobs. We're sure they're a 100 percent above board, feel-good company. Surrrre. After all, the word "incite" is defined as: "to encourage someone to do or feel something unpleasant or violent."What could go wrong?This new Westworld Season 3 trailer raises a lot of questions. Some that immediately come to mind: is Incite a competing company to Delos Destinations, the group that operates Westworld? Are Incite and Delos somehow connected?A teaser website for Incite shares a few further details, though they are similarly mysterious. "The world can feel chaotic: big problems, no solutions, no one to lead the way. Global issues may seem so complex that untangling the answers feels impossible. Here at Incite, we want to make 'impossible' a thing of the past," reads a line from the fake company's description. "Chaos is merely a pattern waiting to be uncovered. You can help us chart a better future." Westworld Season 3 premieres in the first half of 2020. Season 3 introduces a number of new characters, including one played by Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul.For lots more on Westworld Season 3, check out GameSpot's roundup of everything we know. Westworld is based on the Michael Crichton 1973 movie of the same name.Info from Gamespot.com