PlayStation fans have had quite a bit to digest in the first half of 2019. Sony has been making news at a furious clip, specifically because it's already talking about the concrete details of its next-generation console, including its release date. But also making headlines was another big move from Sony--the company completely skipped E3.Just because Sony didn't share any news at the year's biggest gaming convention doesn't mean there weren't games getting a lot of attention, though. The show was full of major releases slated for the second half of 2019 and into 2020, like Cyberpunk 2077, Watch Dogs Legion, Control, Ghost Recon Breakpoint, Ghostwire Tokyo, and Elden Ring. Sony might not have been present, but PS4 exclusives and semi-exclusives, like Final Fantasy VII Remake and Shenmue III, also made a big splash at the convention.With so much going on with Sony, the PS4, and whatever its successor console winds up being called, there's a lot to keep up on. We've compiled this cheat sheet to bring you up to speed on everything you need to know about what's happening on the PS4 front, from news about the new console to E3 and beyond. Read on to keep yourself up to speed on all things PlayStation that you might have missed.Table of Contents [hide]Sony Skips E3 2019PlayStation 5 (By Some Name) Is ComingSome Developers Are Talking About PS5 Development--Kind OfSony And Microsoft Team For Cloud GamingDeath Stranding Gets A Release DateBig Games On the Way--And A Few ExclusivesSony Skips E3 2019Several companies have started taking their E3 festivities off-site rather than appear at the actual convention. Electronic Arts now has its EA Play event in Hollywood, for example, while Microsoft maintains a presence at the Microsoft Theater just next door to the Los Angeles Convention Center where the rest of E3 takes place. But while major publishers have been moving away from E3, they usually maintain some kind of presence during the convention, including showing off their plans for the future in big press conferences.This year, Sony was abnormally silent--the PlayStation maker skipped E3 altogether. Sony didn't hold a press conference to show off new games or discuss its next console, slated for release in 2020. Sony also usually dominates the show floor in E3 with a huge booth, where attendees can try both future and current titles--but Sony gave up that space as well. It was a quieter E3 without Sony in attendance, and that has resulted in somewhat less news from the company about what to expect for the rest of the year. There were still plenty of PlayStation games on offer at the show from other publishers, though.Sony Was Not At E3 This Year; Here's Why PlayStation Skipped The Big EventPlayStation 5 (By Some Name) Is ComingIt's official: Another Sony game console is coming. Sony revealed some details of the new console in May, although some key pieces of information about what we can expect from the new machine are missing. We don't know if it'll be called PlayStation 5 or something else, or what the console will cost. We do know the machine will feature backward compatibility with PS4 games and that it'll support PSVR. It'll feature SSD storage and support 8K visuals, provided you have a TV that can handle it. Sony also later teased the possibility of multiplayer playable between generations--meaning you could take on PS5 owners from your PS4 in games that are available on both platforms.The console is set for release in 2020, so it seems likely there will be a lot more details coming soon, likely before the end of the year. Though E3 has come and gone, there are plenty of other conventions between now and April where Sony could reveal more details.Sony Reveals First Details About PS5What We Know About PS5PS5 Will Use Solid-State Drives: Here's Why That's ImportantPS4 Games Will Play On PS5, Sony SaysPS5 Cross-Gen Multiplayer Teased Alongside Backward CompatibilityAMD Boss Teases PS5 "Special Sauce"More Cross-Gen, Backward Compatibility Details And 120Hz Support RevealedSome Developers Are Talking About PS5 Development--Kind OfIt's still early yet, but developers are starting to get peppered with questions about their games appearing on PS5 (or whatever they call it). Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red didn't rule out releasing the game on new consoles, but said it's "not our area of interest right now" but didn't rule it out. A report from Wired said Death Stranding could make it to PS5, something Sony wouldn't comment on. There are surely more games being planned for the PS5 at this point with its launch next year, but so far, nothing is confirmed.Games We Suspect Are Coming To The PS5Cyberpunk 2077 For PS5 And Scarlett Not Ruled OutDeath Stranding Could Also Release On PS5 - ReportSony And Microsoft Team For Cloud GamingThough Sony and Microsoft have long been rivals in the console market, with the expansion of the idea of games as a streaming service, the two console makers are teaming up. The two companies announced the partnership in May, which will focus on entertainment technology. The two companies are working together on Microsoft's cloud architecture, Microsoft Azure, and it sounds like Sony may soon be using Azure for its own games and content streaming services. What's particularly interesting is that the team-up comes just as Google's Stadia streaming service has been making headlines. Sony has PlayStation Now and Microsoft is planning its xCloud service that will both compete with Stadia, so it seems the two console makers are looking to team up against a bigger rival.Microsoft And Sony Make Nice, Announce Partnership For Gaming And Cloud ServicesDeath Stranding Gets A Release DateJust ahead of E3, one of the biggest PS4 exclusives on the horizon grabbed the spotlight. That game is Death Stranding, the first project by Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima after exiting Konami. We got a new, weird trailer for the game, plus a release date: November 8, 2019. The trailer also gave us a close look at Death Stranding's gameplay, something a slate of past cinematic trailers haven't yet made clear. There may yet be more news on the way, too: Kojima is set to appear at San Diego Comic-Con in July.Death Stranding Release Date TrailerRelease Date Trailer BreakdownDeath Stranding Invents A New Genre, Kojima SaysDeath Stranding Cast Includes A Load Of CelebritiesBig Games On the Way--And A Few ExclusivesThough Sony wasn't at E3 to show off big games, there were a few PS4 titles that made headlines anyway. Square Enix's Final Fantasy VII Remake made a meteor-sized impact with a new playable demo of the Bombing Run and a look at how the game's combat will play. Square Enix also released an extended trailer that game with a release date: March 3, 2020. We learned that FFVII will span two Blu-ray discs--but this first episode will only cover everything that happens in Midgar, and Square Enix has no idea many episodes the entire FFVII story will require.We also got a new look at Shenmue III thanks to a fresh trailer announcing the game's Epic Store exclusivity--something the studio later discussed in a post on its Kickstarter page in response to some players' reticence. Director Yu Suzuki also spoke on the GameSpot E3 stage about realizing a 20-year vision with the game.Plenty of other huge games got shown off during the E3, and while they're not just PS4 exclusives, they'll be rounding out PlayStation owners' libraries as they're released through the rest of 2019 and into 2020. Titles like Watch Dogs Legion, Cyberpunk 2020, Ghostwire Tokyo, From Software's Elden Ring, and Marvel's Avengers will all be available to PS4 owners before too long.E3's Most Important NewsCyberpunk 2077 Looks Like Deus Ex, But With A Little Bit MoreControl Will Trust Players To Figure Out Its Unreal StoryThe Outer Wilds' Story Is Shaped By Choice; You Can Even Be The Game's VillainWolfenstein Youngblood Adds Newfangled RPG Stuff to BJ's WorldGods & Monsters Goes All-In On Greek MythologyThe Division 2 Roadmap Goes Back To New YorkWatch Dogs Legion's NPCs Are Fleshed-Out, Playable CharactersGhost Recon Breakpoint Adding AI Squad Members For Solo PlayInfo from Gamespot.com

Fortnite's first 9.30 content update is now live, kicking off the game's 14 Days of Summer event. For the next two weeks, Epic will be rolling out a new limited-time mode and unvaulting an old weapon for 24 hours each day. That's not all; the game will also offer a new daily challenge to complete, which will net you an exclusive new reward.The first 14 Days of Summer challenge is live, and it involves dancing at six beach parties. You'll need to boogie down at six of these beachside shindigs in total to complete the challenge, and they need to be different ones each time; you can't simply return to the same location over and over. Fortunately, the beach parties are fairly easy to spot; the areas will be decked out with beach chairs, balloons, and other party favors. You can see where these beach parties are located in the video above.The reward for completing the first 14 Days of Summer challenge is the new Deep End dance emote, which has you doing Fortnite's take on the famous "C'mon and Swim" dance. We'll continue to update this list as more challenges go live, so be sure to check back regularly for more guides as the 14 Days of Summer event progresses.Despite the event's name, you'll actually have 21 days to complete the 14 Days of Summer challenges, giving you plenty of time to finish everything. If you do manage to complete all 14 challenges before the event ends, you'll unlock a special smoothie back bling for your troubles. You can find the full list of all the available challenges thus far below.As previously mentioned, challenges aren't the only thing you have to look forward to in the 14 Days of Summer event. Epic is also featuring a new LTM each day; the first, dubbed Splashdown, has you trying to eliminate other players using water balloons. There will also be new outfits and other items for purchase from Fortnite's in-game shop. You can read more details about the event on the official Fortnite website.Fortnite 14 Days Of Summer ChallengesDance at different Beach Parties (6) -- Deep End emoteInfo from Gamespot.com

Another week means a fresh set of deals for PS4 games on the PlayStation Store. This week the headline event is a PlayStation Plus Specials Sale, offering deep discounts on more than 300 games and DLC packs--as long as you're a member of Plus, the PlayStation service that grants you access to online play.The lineup of game offerings for sale include a wide array of games, especially ones from Ubisoft. If you've been waiting to get your hands on some of the back catalog of Assassin's Creed, South Park, or Far Cry, now may be the time. You can also catch up with bundles for The Division and Watch Dogs franchises, and the Persona Dancing: Endless Night Collection ($60).Other standouts include low prices on some Battlefield games and the excellent campaign for Titanfall 2 ($7.50). If you're more in the mood for a strategy game, Mutant Year Zero ($21) is on sale. You can also pick up Burnout Paradise Remastered ($5) or Dead by Daylight ($15), or get in a more indie mood with Guacamelee 2 ($10). Some deals don't require Plus, like Monster Hunter World which is going for $20.See all the weekly game deals in the PlayStation Store, and check out more of our picks below!Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion -- $10Assassin's Creed Origin -- $18Assassin's Creed Syndicate -- $15Assassin's Creed Unity -- $8Battlefield 1 Revolution -- $10Battlefield 4 - $5Burnout Paradise Remastered -- $5Dead by Daylight Special Edition -- $15Dragon Age: Inquisition -- $10Far Cry Insanity Bundle -- $50Guacamelee 2 -- $10Jurassic World Evolution -- $25Life is Strange Season 2 -- $30Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden -- $21Persona Dancing Endless Night Collection -- $60South Park: The Video Game Collection -- $24Starlink: Battle for Atlas Deluxe Edition -- $40Titanfall 2 Ultimate Edition -- $7.50Tom Clancy's The Division Franchise Bundle -- $60Unravel -- $5Unravel Two -- $5Watch Dogs Gold Editions Bundle -- $30Info from Gamespot.com

Spider-Man: Far From Home continues the journey of Tom Holland's Peter Parker in theaters on July 2, but in the meantime it's getting a free VR tie-in experience, which is available right now on Steam and on PSVR. The experience is published by Sony, and developed by CreateVR, who also worked on VR tie-in experiences for Spider-Man: Homecoming and the Ghostbusters reboot. Check out a trailer for the Spider-Man: Far From Home VR Experience below.Where the previous Spider-Man VR tie-in for Homecoming was more stationary, this experience finally brings one of the essential Spider-Man fantasies into VR: swinging from building-to-building through the streets of New York City. You can choose from one of four outfits that Spider-Man has worn in the MCU and swing through the city, facing off against some giant robot foes. In addition to releasing on PSVR and Steam (for both HTC Vive and Oculus Rift), Sony will be taking the experience to select Regal Cinemas in North America through July 7, running on HP's Reverb headset.Spider-Man: Far From Home releases in theaters on July 2 as the first entry in the MCU following the climax of Avengers: Endgame. Tom Holland returns as Peter Parker and Jake Gyllenhaal makes his MCU debut as Mysterio, a classic Spider-Man villain who first appears as an ally, according to the trailers. Check out some of our favorite fan theories about the film while you wait for the VR experience to download.Info from Gamespot.com

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is still a wildly-popular game despite having "fallen short" in some areas. Developer PUBG Corporation looks to address some of these areas, announcing a new console patch that introduces a new progression system called weapon mastery, an auto-equip attachments feature, an additional controller preset, and more.The news comes via a tweet posted by the official PUBG Support team. The update, headed to both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, will arrive on Thursday, June 27. Server maintenance will be conducted from Wednesday, June 26 at 10 PM PT to Thursday, June 27 at 4 AM PT.The headlining feature of the patch is the weapon mastery system, which allows players to increase weapon levels by gaining experience with that weapon. Weapon mastery and its rewards--such as charms and medals--operate independently of seasons, and there are 100 levels per weapon to be achieved.A new controller preset will be included in the new update. The preset is suited more for a thumb-index finger-middle finger style of controller handling, and it's for players that heavily rely on leaning and combat strategies.Further, PUBG Corp includes a new auto-equip feature that allows players to automatically stack their weapon with whatever attachments found in the world. The new patch also addresses a number of bug fixes, including issues with picking up items, bullets not puncturing wire fences, and more.You can read the full patch notes below.New Progression SystemNew Progression System: Weapon Mastery is a new progression system where players can increase levels by gaining weapon XP based on players’ weapon use.It operates all the time without being affected by seasons.Weapon Mastery offers 100 levels for players to achieve per weapon.In the lobby, players can check their weapon use information, last match results, and the rewards they acquired thus far through the newly created Mastery tab.Weapon Mastery Rewards: There are three types of Weapon Mastery rewards. These rewards can only be acquired through Mastery achievement.Charms: Charms are accessories that can be equipped to weapons.New charm can achieved at every five levels of progression per weapon.Charms can be used with any weapon skins. Acquired charms can be equipped/unlocked in the rewards page. Equipped charms can be seen in-game.Medals: Medals highlight awesome accomplishments players perform with their weapons.Each medal can be earned multiple times. There is even a counter that tracks how many medals have been achieved.Tier Emblems: Players can earn emblems equivalent to their level brackets achieved per each weapon.Up to 10 tiers can be achieved.How to earn Weapon XP: Weapon XP is earned when one or more of the following elements is satisfied during a match.DamageHeadshotsDefeats Defeats is a new term used for tracking actions that includes knockdowns, killing the last member of a team and killing solo players.You can acquire extra weapon XP based on distance of defeats.When earning Weapon XP, the amount received will increase based on how long you survived.Defeats follow the existing judgment rules for DBNO/Kills currently used in the game.Additional information: Weapon Mastery does not count friendly fire/team damage.Weapon Mastery does not count downs caused by road kills or environmental factors (blue zone, red zone, fall damage, or drowning).Weapon Mastery does not count throwables or melee damage.Total defeats for each weapon can be found on the Weapons tab under Mastery.There is a maximum limit on each weapon that can be getting weapon XP.Controller Preset: Type CAdded a new Controller preset, Type C Preset settings can be changed in the menus labeled Configuration – Control – Controller PresetThe new preset is more suitable for thumb – index finger – middle finger controlCompared to Preset A or B, Preset C is for players that utilize leaning and combat strategies heavily Preset C does not have the Aim (over the shoulder) keyLeaning can be used by pressing L1 or R1 key Leaning was separated from the analog sticks to avoid disrupting the aim or movementThe key to equip sidearm has been changed to double tap Triangle for a quicker change in dynamic battlesFor other changes, please see the in-game Controller GuideA word from our dev team: Controller preset C is designed to make a battle focused preset, so players would have minimum difficulty when moving, aiming, leaning or firing during combat by making them all independent.Preset C omitted the less commonly used key (in this case, AIM down the shoulder) and tried to avoid the loss in response time of ADS or distraction to combat.We will be adding customization options to all presets (A, B and C) allowing some key settings to be added/altered. We’re looking forward to hearing your feedback.Auto Equip AttachmentsAdded Auto Equip Attachments options to Configuration – Gameplay Three options available: Auto Equip Attachments, Auto Equip Scope and Auto Replace AttachmentsAuto Equip Attachments: An attachment will be automatically equipped on an active weapon upon pick up, if equipableIf unequipable, the attachment will be equipped to the next available weapon (Primary 1 → Primary 2 → Sidearm order)If none of the weapons can equip the picked up attachment it will go into the inventory Attachments cannot be picked up if there is no free space in the inventoryAuto Equip Scope: Scope type attachments are given three different settings to reduce unexpected situations during combatSetting – Off: Scope type attachments will not automatically equip and will go into the inventory insteadAttachments cannot be picked up if there is no free space in the inventorySetting – Sight Only: Only sight type attachments (Red Dot, Hologram Sight, and Canted Sight) will be automatically equippedAttachments cannot be picked up if there is no free space in the inventorySetting – All: All scopes will be automatically equippedAttachments cannot be picked up if there is no free space in the inventorySetting – Auto Replace Attachments: When replacing the weapon you are holding onto a different weapon by holding Square key, compatible attachments will automatically be equipped onto a new weaponIncompatible ones will go into the inventory Attachments will be dropped if there is no free space in the inventoryGameplayThe Featured map has been rotated from Sanhok to Erangel.Erangel 2nd Loot RebalanceThe total amount of items spawned in Erangel has been increased by approximately 28%.Increased the overall amount of items spawned, especially the spawn rates of those higher priority items. Spawn rate of AR has been increased by approx 64%.Spawn rate of DMR has been increased by approx 114%.Spawn rate of SR has been increased by approx 177%.Spawn rates of equipment and armor have been slightly increased, especially level 2.Spawn rates of healing items have been slightly increased.Open/Close Doors Animation ImprovementImproved the algorithm to determine when vehicles are blocking doors, preventing them from opening or closing.Mission ListYou can no longer check your mission list while in the starting area or in the plane using L1.You can still check the mission list from the System Menu.New Parachute GaugeThe parachute UI has been improved with more visibility and divided into two gauges, one for current speed and the other a more detailed altitude reading.Improved teammate status UI: An icon has been added to show when teammates are freefalling from the plane.Teammates’ status icons during the parachuting phase which were previously only shown on the map, are now also shown at the bottom left of the screen alongside the other teammate UI.Tactical Map MarkerAdded new Tactical Map Markers with 6 different marker types for different situations (Attack, Danger, Defend, Loot, Regroup, Vehicle). To use the markers, open the world map and hold R3 to reveal the Tactical Map Marker wheel, then move to the desired icon then click R3. Clicking R3 without selecting any marker type will place a standard marker.Each player can only place one Tactical Map Marker or Standard marker at a time.Tactical Map Markers will be shown on the world map, minimap, and compass in the same way as the existing map markers.Throwable Crosshair ImprovementAdded new crosshair when using throwables to easily identify the use of overarm or underarm throwing stance.Vikendi 2nd Loot RebalanceBlue zone adjustments To support a wider variety of gameplay experiences around Vikendi, the initial safe zone will now be placed in more varied locations and the waiting time between certain blue zone phases has been reduced. Phase 1 safe zone now spawns in more varied locations.Waiting time between early and late blue zone phases has been decreased slightly.Overall match duration subsequently reduced by 1 minute and 30 seconds.Vehicle spawn rate adjustment: Vehicle spawn rate has been changed to facilitate the new blue zone settings. Increased four-wheel drive vehicle spawn ratio in relation to Snowbikes and Snowmobiles.Item spawn rate adjustment:We have adjusted weapon spawn rates to help facilitate more medium and long-range engagements. Adjustments to available attachments have also been made to offer players more options. Adjustments to item spawns on Vikendi: AR spawns increased by 1.4xDMR spawns increased by 2xSR spawns increased by 7xSMG, Shotgun, Pistol Crossbow and spawns have been decreased slightly.Attachment spawns have been increased slightly.High powered scope spawns have been increased slightly.Cave balance adjustment:Since the Secret Cave is no longer much of a secret, we have adjusted the loot within to balance it more closely to other areas of Vikendi to improve the gameplay experience, while still offering good loot. Care Packages will no-longer spawn in the cave. High quality non-crate loot will still spawn in this location.Increased variety of items spawned in the cave.Item pool changes: Added MK47 Mutant, Halfgrip, Thumbgrip and Laser Sight.Removed Win94 and R45.Increased Moonlight weather condition percentage.UI/UXTeam UI OverhaulTeammates boost gauges are now in the team UI visible while playing to enhance team play.Font Style ImprovementChanged the font style to make capital letters ‘I’ and ‘L’ more distinguishable.Flare Gun UI ImprovementChanged the Flare Gun crosshair to display as a circle when aiming at the correct position to successfully call in a Special Care Package or Armored UAZ. Adjusted the Flare Gun status UI displayed after calling in a Special Care Package or Armored UAZ. The green flashing light is now removed once the drop leaves the plane.Previously, it would remain until the drop had been on the ground for 30 seconds.Minimap ImprovementsTeammates outside of your immediate minimap area will now have their icon and status shown at the at the edge of the minimap. This will help more easily identify the direction and status of your teammates.Weapon Preview ImprovementImproved the weapon preview animation in the lobby.UI Improvement to Prevent Potential Unfair Advantage while SpectatingIf houses and other map objects aren’t completely loaded when spectating teammates, additional UI will now cover the screen to prevent seeing players that wouldn’t otherwise be seen. Once loading is complete, the additional UI will be removed.Spectator Screen ImprovementYou can now report the spectating player by pressing Triangle/Y button while on the spectator screen.Added instructions to the Key Guide that you can leave the match by pressing O/B button.Network Latency HUDAdded a Network Information function that can display Ping, connection speed, packets, and packet loss.This will be located in the top left of the screen.You can change the settings to On/Off at Settings > Gameplay > UI > Network debug statistics.PerformanceOptimized performance to decrease the time it takes to load into matches.SoundSound ImprovementsWe’ve now added more sounds for item interactions. Previously items were looted, dropped, equipped and unequipped, some items had the same sound effects regardless of the characteristics of each item. Sounds will now vary more between items.Added vehicle suspension sounds. Sounds of moving vehicles’ suspension working can now be heard.Different sounds will be played in different situations. Vehicles moving on rough terrain or when landing from a jump will make unique sounds.Suspension sound volume is different between TPP and FPP.Bug FixesWorldFixed an issue with some barbed wire fences blocking bullets.Fixed an issue where players are unable to pick up items that are placed under broken barbed wire fences.Fixed an issue where items spawned in inaccessible locations of Docks on Sanhok.Fixed an issue where the player camera could pass through a specific wall at Paradise Resort on Sanhok while standing close to it.Fixed an issue which allowed grenades to be thrown through the underside of the parasols at Paradise Resort on Sanhok.Fixed an issue which prevented players from standing up after being prone under certain hut boardwalks on Sanhok.Fixed an issue where lighting effects could change abruptly on stone buildings with curved roofs on Sanhok.GeneralFixed the issue with center screen DBNO and kill messages being delayed.Fixed the issue with interaction UI remaining in spectator screen when is killed during interaction UI activated.Fixed the issue with certain maneuver could prevent motorcycles from flipping.Fixed the issue where the character would continue moving when system menu was opened while driving or freefalling.Fixed an issue with different UAZ model variants having different maximum speeds.Fixed the issue with a frag grenade ground burn mark textures overlapping the player character’s model.Fixed an issue where only one side of footsteps is output in certain situations.Fixed an issue which would remove player’s hair completely when equipping caps.Fixed a visual issue when punk knuckle gloves were equipped.Fixed a visual issue preventing belts from being visible when wearing a fur coat.Fixed an issue where character’s hair and face overlap when a female character equips specific hair styles and caps.Fixed a visual issue with shadows displaying incorrectly when swimming in FPP.Fixed an issue where players are unable to revive their teammates if casting UI freezes at 0 while reviving.Fixed an issue when using a scope and the character moves backward, the scope shakes.Fixed certain limb animations not playing while vaulting.Fixed an issue preventing the correct crosshair from being displayed after holstering a sidearm.Fixed an issue with Shirt (Plaid) icon not matching the in-game asset.Fixed a bug which prevented footsteps from being heard while walking over mud or water while wearing Harley Quinn Daddy’s Lil’ Monster Outfit.Fixed an issue where weapons could sometimes become unusable after reconnecting to a game.Fixed a visual issue after reloading an M249 which could cause the magazine to float mid-air.Fixed an issue preventing vehicle missions from being completed with the Zima.Fixed an issue where players could take excessive damage or die when landing at specific locations.Fixed an issue where the screen would shake when ADS and leaning against a wall or the corner of objects.Fixed an issue where the game mode would sometimes change when making a team.Fixed an issue where some bullets could pass through a wall when firing in specific conditions.Fixed an issue with a vehicle that slipped more than intended while driving.Fixed an issue which prevented healing items from being used when holding a weapon and performing an emote.Fixed an issue which allowed some unintended weapon types to be used from the back seat of an Aquarail.Fixed an issue where an error message is output when attempting to replace a cooked throwable with a throwable in the inventory.Grenades can no-longer be thrown through wire mesh (most notably, wire fences).Fixed an issue where players would sometimes appear to be moving in a falling motion.Info from Gamespot.com

Koji Igarashi's recently-released Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night has caught the ire of the internet yet again. Following a bug that caused progression issues on other platforms, some Nintendo Switch players are running into performance problems, reporting large dips in frame rate and unstable gameplay. Publisher 505 Games has announced plans to address these issues.Bloodstained Kickstarter backers received an email from 505 Games' senior community manager Jason Ryan. Ryan said the team has heard the feedback and ultimately wants everyone "to be able to enjoy the game and have it run smoothly." To that end, Ryan said resources will be shifted "immediately" to focus on Switch performance and stability."Update 1.01 was published to Switch prior to launch to add content and improve performance," Ryan wrote. "It did not accomplish as much as we had hoped and we need to do more. You can expect a number of small updates that will improve different areas of the game rather than waiting longer for one big update. We will have more details as we dive into the work."Ryan didn't specify what kind of work the team is doing, nor did he clarify when these "small updates" will release for Bloodstained on Switch. You can check out a side-by-side comparison between the PS4 and Switch versions below.In other Bloodstained news, the game will add multiplayer in a post-launch patch at some unspecified time.Off the heels of E3 2019, Bloodstained released to very little fanfare. The launch trailer gave an unexpected announcement in the form of a Shovel Knight cameo. Bloodstained is currently on sale for PC if you're looking for a cheap way to pick up the title.Info from Gamespot.com

The second major update for World of Warcraft's Battle for Azeroth expansion has arrived. Rise of Azshara is now live, and it introduces a wealth of new content and features to the long-running MMO, including new locations, Heritage armor, a mount equipment system, and much more.Among the biggest additions to the game are two new zones to explore. The first is Nazjatar, the capital city of the naga and the home of the eponymous Azshara, who serves as the final foe in a new eight-boss raid called Azshara's Eternal Palace. The second new zone is the city of Mechagon. Here you'll be able to take on a new Mythic-difficulty dungeon called Operation Mechagon, which culminates with a battle against the city's mad king.Rise of Azshara also introduces a new type equipment known as Benthic gear, which will help you during your exploits in Nazjatar. As you explore the naga capital, you'll acquire a new kind of soulbound currency called Prismatic Manapearls. These can be traded for a piece of Benthic gear, which can be further upgraded all the way to to ilvl 425. On top of that, Gnomes and Taurens can now embark on special quests to earn their own Heritage armor.Another significant change the update brings is a new mount equipment system. This gives you the ability to customize any mount with abilities; for instance, you can now outfit any mount with the ability to walk on water. There are also new Pathfinder achievements to complete; clearing these will allow your mount to fly through Kul Tiras, Zandalar, Mechagon, and Nazjatar.Beyond that, the Heart of Azeroth system features a new customization option, Essences, which can give your character a variety of different buffs and other abilities. There's also a new pet battle dungeon named Stratholme and a variety of other changes. You can read more details about the Rise of Azshara update on the official World of Warcraft website.This year marks the 15th anniversary of World of Warcraft's launch, and to commemorate the milestone, Blizzard is releasing a 15th Anniversary Edition of the game that comes with a variety of physical and in-game goodies. World of Warcraft Classic is also coming this summer; here's how Blizzard aims to make the world of Azeroth feel dangerous again.Info from Gamespot.com

Each week in Destiny 2's Season of Opulence, Werner 99-40, one of the Tower robots hacked by Cabal Emperor Calus, gives you four bounties that can help you completely upgrade your Chalice of Opulence. Those bounties have the usual requirements--get a certain number of kills, for instance, or complete a certain type of activity. But completing that step of each bounty only earns you a Treasure Map, and it's up to you to follow it to find the Runes, Imperials, and legendary drops the bounties promise.While the bounties themselves are often a bit time-consuming to complete, the glowing treasure chests they drop are also usually a bit tough to find. Calus loves to leave them in out-of-the-way places that aren't always immediately obvious. Luckily, we've tracked down each of Calus's treasures to show you exactly where to go to snag them.The Salvaged Goods bounty requires you to pick up five Legendary engrams from drops in any activity, which means if you just play the game as normal, you'll eventually complete this bounty without any extra effort. Clearing it earns you the map, which sends you to Io.Where To Find The TreasureOn Io, you're looking for the Spine Burrows area. It looks like the location you want is near Giant's Scar, but in fact, it's accessible from Lost Oasis. Pick the Lost Oasis landing zone, then hop on your sparrow and head due east toward the edge of the area (toward where "Spine Burrows" is marked on the map). When you arrive, you should see a cave opening with a stream of blue water leading into it--that's where you're headed.Follow the cave tunnel until you hit a large room filled with Taken. The Spine Burrows name should come up on your screen to let you know you're in the right place. The chest you want is on the ground on your right; hop across to the small ledge in front of you on your right side and follow the tunnel through.You'll exit next to a big tree. Drop down to the ground below and do a 180 and you should find the chest right behind you.Info from Gamespot.com

The Season of Opulence in Destiny 2 encourages you to get greedy as you fight through the Menagerie. The season also provides new weekly bounties that send you all over the solar system doing jobs for Calus, the Cabal emperor, in order to earn Imperials that can be used to upgrade the Chalice of Opulence. All of those bounties have a second component, though: In addition to racking up kills or gathering items, you also need to track down hidden treasures in order to claim your prizes.The treasure for the Gaze Into Death's Eyes bounty takes you to Mars. The bounty itself encourages you to get in the face of your enemies, racking up 200 close-range kills with shotguns, SMGs, sidearms, or swords. Once you've done that, you'll unlock a Treasure Map directing you to Alton Dynamo on Mars.Where To Find The TreasureStart at the Braytech Futurescape landing zone on Mars, then hop on your sparrow and head west toward Alton's Dynamo. You'll power through Dynamo Approach and into the facility by passing through the cave tunnel. Fight through the Cabal you find there until you go through a door and enter a hallway. You'll find two paths ahead: one to the left and one to the right.Take the right hallway and you'll enter a big server room. Like most of the facility, this room is laid out in the shape of a big diamond, and you're going to want to go toward the back wall to your left, around the back of the raised central platform. Watch out for Hive enemies as you head toward the back of the room.When you find the stairs on the left side of the platform, keep going past them around the side to find the glowing chest nearby.Info from Gamespot.com

It's official: The Office is leaving Netflix, but it's not happening very soon. NBC announced today that it picked up the "exclusive" streaming rights to The Office for the United States, and that all nine seasons of the show will be available on NBC's own streaming service beginning in 2021. The show will remain on Netflix until January 2021.NBC's streaming service will have ads, which is a fact that Netflix pointed out in a tweet responding to the news.We're sad that NBC has decided to take The Office back for its own streaming platform — but members can binge watch the show to their hearts' content ad-free on Netflix until January 2021 — Netflix US (@netflix) June 25, 2019According to NBC, The Office is the most popular show in all of streaming on-demand video. The show tallied an astounding 52 billion minutes of viewing time in 2018, according to NBC. And in April this year, it was watched for nearly double the amount of time as the most-viewed show on streaming video on-demand, though it's unclear how NBC calculated that given it presumably doesn't have access to streaming data for competing shows.Whatever the case, The Office is wildly popular on Netflix in America. According to Brian Baumgartner, who plays Kevin Malone, it is Netflix's most popular show "by far."NBC's untitled streaming service is scheduled to launch in 2020 featuring a library that contains "some of the world's most popular television and film franchises," as well as brand-new shows and programs from other networks. Before this announcement, one other possibility was for Netflix to pay NBC Universal to retain The Office. This likely would have cost Netflix a small fortune, as the streaming network reportedly paid $100 million to keep Friends on Netflix through 2019. Friends is believed to be Netflix's No. 2 most popular show, so The Office presumably would have cost more to keep.According to The Hollywood Reporter, NBC is paying $100 million per year for five years to producers Universal Television to have The Office on the NBC streaming service. Universal Television and NBC are owned by the same company.Also of note here is that NBC's deal is for The Office's domestic streaming rights, so it remains to be seen how this contract will affect streaming availability in other parts of the world. For example, The Office is available on the streaming platform Stan in Australia, not Netflix. The show is relatively new to Australia as well, having only just arrived on Stan in 2018.In other news, a new version of The Office is reportedly in development, though whether or not it's being made for TV or streaming remains to be seen. Info from Gamespot.com

One of Microsoft's next big exclusive, Gears 5, launches in September for Xbox One and PC, and its release date is just ahead of the release of Project Scarlett in Holiday 2020. Gears 5 will presumably play on Scarlett given the console supports all Xbox One games, but developer The Coalition isn't ready to talk about its plans yet.The Coalition boss Rod Fergusson told IGN that he and the team are "really focused" on launching Gears 5 on the existing Xbox consoles. Given that The Coalition is owned by Microsoft, you can connect the dots and imagine that Gears 5 will also support Scarlett, but Microsoft isn't ready to make any announcements yet."Really focused on Gears 5 right now on what we have now in terms of Xbox One X and One S and One Regular. The Xbox One family of devices [in ad sales guy voice]," he said. "That's what we're really focused on right now. I think there's stuff, as first-party, you could probably make some suppositions about what we would and not do but I think it's too early to talk about that now."In June during E3, Xbox boss Jason Ronald confirmed that "thousands" of games from all four generations of Xbox will be playable on Project Scarlett.In other news, another high-profile first-party Microsoft game, Halo Infinite, is releasing in Holiday 2020 as a launch title for Scarlett. That game will also play on all Xbox One models, as well as PC.Gears 5 launches on September 10, but those who buy the Ultimate Edition can play beginning September 6. Additionally, all Xbox Game Pass members get the game at no extra cost.Info from Gamespot.com

The latest mashup pack for Minecraft is out now, and it brings Toy Story to the popular sandbox game.The Toy Story Mash-Up pack adds a number of character skins from the Pixar franchise, including classics like Woody, Buzz, and Bo Peep, as well as new ones from Toy Story 4 such as Keanu Reeves' Duke Caboom and Ducky & Bunny.Some of the new locations in the Toy Story Mash-Up Pack include Andy's bright and colorful bedroom and Sid's spooky bedroom of horrors. Everything is scaled down to be seen from the perspective of a toy. That puts a new spin on Minecraft as you'll need to jump and climb around.The Toy Story Mash-Up Pack is available now on Xbox and PC for $8 USD. Click through the images in the gallery above to get a closer look at the new character skins.Toy Story is just the latest mega-franchise to come to Minecraft with a Mash-Up Pack. Some of the other notable ones include The Simpsons, Pirates of the Caribbean, Nightmare Before Christmas, and Solo: A Star Wars Story.Minecraft remains immensely popular, and Microsoft continues to expand the franchise with new extensions. While Minecraft 2 may not be happening, a new game called Minecraft Dungeons is on the way. Additionally, a Pokemon Go-style AR game called Minecraft Earth is in development as well.Info from Gamespot.com

United States presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has joined Twitch, becoming the second major presidential candidate in US history to do so.According to Vox, the Sanders Twitch channel might come to life on Thursday, timed with his appearance in the first round of the Democratic primary debates. The channel page is live right now, but there is no programming on it.Sanders' move into Twitch is reportedly part of the 77-year-old Vermont Senator's wider "Bernie TV" campaign, where he'll livestream to a variety of streaming services including Twitch, as well as Facbook and YouTube, where he already has a presence.The content will apparently include discussion on the news of the day, campaign updates, and pre- and post-debate programming."We're moving toward doing a lot more live content on Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook, tapping into an audience where there's not a lot of political content already," Josh Miller-Lewis, the head of Sanders' digital campaign, told Vox.Another Democratic presidential hopeful, Andrew Yang, launched a Twitch channel in 2018.The first Democratic debates take place June 26 and June 27 in Miami, running from 9 to 11 PM ET. Sanders appears during night two. Info from Gamespot.com

In the fall of 1945, in the pages of the New Yorker, Edmund Wilson lambasted H.P. Lovecraft as a peddler of "hack-work" who was, in short, "not a good writer." His most cutting (and famous) remark has dogged the author's legacy since: "The only real horror in most of these fictions," Wilson quipped, "is the horror of bad taste and bad art." I was reminded of the quote as I played The Sinking City, a supernatural-horror mystery game inspired by Lovecraft's fiction. Faced with this game's crude visuals, monotonous storytelling, and graceless mechanics, I knew exactly how Wilson felt.The Sinking City is a pastiche of Lovecraft lore that draws heavily on the characters, settings, and themes of some of his most celebrated stories. The game especially draws from "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," about a young man's perilous visit to a mysterious port town on the coast of New England overrun by a race of fish-people. You are Charles Reed, a shell-shocked veteran turned sullen private investigator, newly arrived in the fictitious town of Oakmont, Massachusetts to learn more about the disturbing visions that have been troubling you since the war. The town, however, is beset by its own eerie problems, and naturally you are tasked, the moment you step foot in the place, to solve these and others as you look to uncover the truth.From the outset, the game presumes a lot of interest in Oakmont and the various political machinations of its inhabitants. You'll hear all about warring families, fraught racial tensions between factions of mutated denizens, long-vanished naval expeditions, unexplained natural disasters, plundered historical artifacts, arcane regional dialects, infestations of deadly critters from the sea, and a whole suite of murders, extortions, mutilations, and conspiracies--and that's all just in the first two missions. This information is conveyed in long, dull expository monologues and conversations that are entirely one-sided and feel endless. These interminable data-dumps are grueling to click through and are the primary means of proceeding through your investigations. The order in which you choose to ask questions is irrelevant, and there's nothing you can do to alter or vary these talks at all.Your missions are a series of convoluted, interconnected cases, a bit like LA Noire, in which evidence must be gathered, suspects must be "interrogated" (that is, listened to), and conclusions must be drawn. These moments are punctuated by rudimentary moral dilemmas, such as whether a perpetrator ought to face justice or be allowed to walk free in light of extenuating circumstances. The length of these missions is irritatingly protracted by how far apart relevant clues, characters, and other mandatory waypoints tend to be from one another, as well as by backtracking, repetitive searching, and an overall lack of clarity about where you need to go next and what you're meant to do there. Oakmont is an open world, and it is enormous--way too huge, plainly, for how little one section is differentiated from another and how little there is in it worth seeing.By contrast, there is a frankly huge number of game mechanics--so many that the tutorial is mapped to one of the controller keys. One of the game's more unwieldy features is the "Mind Palace," which takes the form of an ungainly submenu cluttered with information collected from clues retrieved and interviews conducted during a mission. You have to combine different pieces of information with related facts, which in my experience was achieved mainly by sticking them together at random until I found two that fit. By connecting the pieces successfully, you create inferences, which can then be connected to reach conclusions. It's simplistic, vague, and a poor approximation of the process of solving a real mystery.Some of this information must be unearthed from archives, which can be found in various places around town, such as the newspaper office and the hospital. Searching the archive for info about a particular event or incident involves selecting search criteria from among different categories, including the period of time, people involved, and location, based on your best guess of what might be relevant to the matter at hand. For example, if you want to learn about an expedition to discover the origin of an outbreak of mass hysteria, you can narrow your search to when the expedition took place and from which port the ship embarked. None of this info is visualized or actually browsable in any meaningful way, and the archives are as robust as a bill of fare. Like so much in this game, it seems designed to give you something to do, but it feels like busywork, with no clear purpose.Your hero has certain supernatural powers, and from time to time you must avail yourself of them in the course of an investigation. You can use "retrocognition" to witness a glimpse of the past--a blurry, blue-tinted silhouette of whatever event happens to be on your itinerary--and, if you can correctly guess the order of these past events chronologically, you'll find out some revelation about the case at hand. Another power works as a kind of Batman: Arkham-style Detective Mode, allowing you to see things that aren't visible to the naked eye; yet another allows you to accept guidance from ghostly figures, who will kindly point you in the right direction. None of these powers make for dynamic gameplay, and aesthetically they tend to be lumpy, lurid, and goofy. Your supernatural gifts mostly amount to a lot of shimmering gelatinous blurs.And there's more. You can drive a motorboat, clumsily--the boat turns slowly and gets stuck on junk all the time. There's a very simplistic, entirely pointless crafting system, which seems to follow no logic at all--coil springs and alcohol can be combined to craft a health kit, even though just finding health kits lying around would surely do. You have a camera, for reasons that were not quite clear to me, and you can take pictures of things. There is a meter that tracks your sanity, which falls if you spend too much time around monsters--though it only makes your vision a bit blurry.This drab, lifeless town lacks any of the slow-burn dread or looming menace of the towns in Lovecraft's stories. Wandering through, you might encounter small spider-like creatures, called Wylebeasts, which you can dispatch by negotiating the awkward, clunky combat system to execute a pistol or melee attack. Or you might encounter a more formidable foe: loading screens, which are even more treacherous. The game loads if you walk into a building. It loads if you prompt a cutscene or chat with a passerby. It loads if you walk too fast and see more of this unsightly town than it can handle revealing to you. Between missions, or after dying, these loading screens can last several minutes, after which a message to "press any button to continue" appears rather unobtrusively.There's tension in Lovecraft's fiction between the terrifying and the absurd, and of course tales of fish-people and nefarious amphibian monsters are bound to at least verge on the ridiculous. The Sinking City has a tenuous control of tone; it frequently seems less nightmarish than farcical. Grim encounters with the darkly macabre, depicted without the requisite gravitas, elicit laughter rather than fear, and ironically the game's stern humorlessness makes it all the harder to take seriously. Finding the fresh corpse of a local sailor with a pair of axes buried in his chest, your hero simply muses, "You've got to be out of your head to do this to a man," delivered with roughly the feeling of a mundane answering machine message. These sights ought to be harrowing. Instead, they're just flat--or worse, silly.The Sinking City has a tenuous control of tone; it frequently seems less nightmarish than farcical.The Sinking City's problems aren't only technical, but conceptual. It's one thing to clip through objects that are meant to be impassable; it's another to feel, when the game seems to be working, that its design is inelegant, or that its writing lacks wit. Despite the outrageously long conversations you're asked to endure, characterizations are paper thin--what's said conveys plot but expresses no psychological shading. A brewing conflict between different species of human-animal hybrids, while containing some of the overtones of allegorical prejudice found in The Shadow Over Innsmouth, shys from engaging seriously with Lovecraft's noted racism.It's hard to resent a game as unapologetically dweeby as The Sinking City. It's an old-fashioned, bookish mystery rooted in the mythology and mysteries of a pulpy, cult-favorite mid-century American novelist--an effort not without charm, to be sure. But no matter how fond your affection for H.P. Lovecraft and the idea of a wide-eyed, slow-burn literary adventure, the poor design, cliched writing, and lumbering pace make this far more tedious than delightful, let alone unsettling or terrifying.Info from Gamespot.com

Getting humor in video games right is tough. While games share a lot with the medium of film in terms of visual storytelling, the presence of a player introduces an unpredictable variable that can totally blow a joke. You never know if they will miss the gag, look the wrong way at a crucial moment, or ignore a punchline because they're too busy running, shooting, jumping, or looking for their next challenge.Humor is a big part of Journey to the Savage Planet, the first-person "explore-'em-up" and freshman offering from Typhoon Studios. Savage Planet puts you in the role of a space explorer hired by the fourth-best space company in the universe, Kindred Aerospace, and dumps you on a strange world where it's your job to explore and catalog the flora and fauna. The creatures are all a bit goofy, like orb-shaped Dodo-like birds that eat slop and poop valuable resources. Interacting with them elicits one-liners delivered by your AI--which is eager to help you explore, but more eager to warn you about limits to Kindred's legal liability should you meet a horrific demise.The writing is part of the humor of Journey to the Savage Planet, but it's not Typhoon's main focus in getting you to laugh. The game primarily leverages what creative director Alex Hutchinson calls "interactive slapstick," where Savage Planet's systems let you create moments that turn out funny, whether on purpose or by accident."I think the problem with humor in video games traditionally is people have tried not to embrace the player," Hutchinson told GameSpot in an interview during E3 2019. "You know, they basically see it as a movie. So all the humor is in the dialogue. And we have what we hope our witty one-liners happening there as well. But I think the true humor in the game is in the actions the player performs, and it's kind of an interactive slapstick where the player can launch a joke that ends up paying off on themselves. If we get these systemic collisions, then I think it's a new form of humor, because it's based on decisions you made as a player and the wacky consequences that float out of it."Hutchinson was previously creative director for Far Cry 4, a game known for its in-game systems sometimes interacting in unexpected and hilarious ways. Moments like those served as inspiration for what Typhoon is trying to do in Savage Planet."In Far Cry 4, there was nothing funnier than seeing a bear on fire rush into the camp and kill your friend after you'd thrown a molotov cocktail 30 seconds earlier, and it was a joke you created," he said while appearing on GameSpot's E3 stage. "So we're trying to get that sense of interactive comedy into the game, because one-liners and things are funny, but they're funny once."Making A Bet On LaughsWhile those moments feel random or unexpected for the person playing, they're not completely emergent from the design side. Hutchinson said the process of creating interactive slapstick is partially about iterating unexpected moments, and partially about working systems into the game that the team knows will lead to funny moments.Hutchinson described filling an encounter with explosive pods, for instance, knowing that one stray shot could turn a battle with a dangerous creature into a deadly fireworks display that could kill the player, or trigger other interactions they might not see coming. But the player's options are finite, as are the behaviors of creatures and other elements in the game--so from a design standpoint, the team knows how things are going to work, and therefore, is often looking to set up ridiculous situations."I think there are some [mechanics and level designs] where you make a bet," Hutchinson explained. "...You bet this is what can happen, and then we have to work on it and iterate to make sure it sort of happens. And then other [funny moments] just start to emerge and when they emerge, you can reinforce them, you know? Then you can make them happen elsewhere in the game, or encourage the player to do them."Mechanical jokes might be the focus of its humor, but there also is plenty in the way of comedic writing in Savage Planet as well. Kindred's position as the fourth-best aerospace company means that it's perpetually strapped for cash, so despite the fact you work for the corporation, you're also bombarded with its ads.Those commercials are largely gags--they look like those old TV infomercials in which some hapless actor catastrophically tears open a bag of chips or slams a hammer through a wall, then mugs for the camera to show us how frustrated they are with their own foibles. But the ads shown in Savage Planet's E3 preview, for things like gross space food Grob or a mall for sea monkeys, double as world-building. They set up a satirical universe where even on a distant planet, you can't escape the ever-present force of someone trying to sell you something.The Gravitational Pull Of The GunSeveral of Savage Planet's in-game ads focus on the items you wield in your left hand as you explore. Those items are meant to yield clever ways to solve problems and deal with the hazardous life you encounter--as opposed to the gun in your right hand, which provides a more straightforward solution.Hutchinson said he had hoped to keep that gun out of your hand in favor of goofier, nonviolent solutions to problems, like using bait to draw creatures toward other things that might eat them, or planting springy pads in their paths that might send them over cliffs."The biggest challenge is always to rise above the noise and to offer something compelling and unique that will hopefully resonate with people," Hutchinson said. "So, you know, we chose to be optimistic and upbeat and colorful and humorous, and also to try and get you to use different tools, you know, than just the gun. Because we're never going to be the best shooter on the planet."Despite Hutchinson's best efforts, though, Typhoon couldn't manage to keep a gun out of Journey to the Savage Planet, he said. But the studio is still working on making it possible to avoid firing it if you don't want to when the game releases in 2020."We tried really hard to emphasize that stuff, but this sort of gravitational pull of a gun was too much to bear," he said. "A player, after playing, was like, 'I love these tools, but sometimes I just want to shoot him in the face.' ... So the goal for the game is to say that you don't have to use the gun, but obviously you can--we'll see how it pans out. At the moment, we haven't figured out a way to make it so you can beat the bosses without the gun. But that would be the goal.""I have a very soft spot for nonviolent approaches in video games," Hutchinson also said on the GameSpot stage. "There's a joke at the start of Far Cry 4, which is, essentially, if you just listen to [Pagan Min] and wait, he lets you do the thing you came for without having to murder anybody. So these things, I'll sneak it in as much as I can--I wanted to do it again on this game. It's very tricky but we're getting closer and closer. I can't promise that there will be a purely nonviolent way through the game, but there's often a way to avoid [using a gun] if you want."Info from Gamespot.com