It appears Respawn's current Titanfall project and plans on all future Titanfall games have been delayed. Previously scheduled for later this year, Apex Legends executive producer Drew McCoy announced plans for all future Titanfall games have been delayed so that Respawn can better focus on future seasons for Apex Legends."[Regarding] other games in development at Respawn, it is important to understand that there are entirely separate development teams working on Apex Legends and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order," McCoy wrote in a blog post. "Additionally, in order to fully support Apex Legends, we are pushing out plans for future Titanfall games. No resources from the Apex Legends team are being shifted to other titles in development here at the studio, nor are we pulling resources from the team working on Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order."Not many details about this upcoming Titanfall project have been revealed, but Respawn CEO Vince Zampella has clarified that it is not Titanfall 3. "We love being able to experiment in this crazy universe!" he said. On Twitter, Zampella also shot down the theory that the Titanfall project would be a VR game. In an earnings call, EA described the project as a "premium" title but suggested the game would not be a typical Titanfall sequel.In this regard, the Titanfall project sounds like it could be similar to Apex Legends, Respawn's battle royale game set within the Titanfall universe years after the events of Titanfall 2. This upcoming game could just be set within the same setting as the original first person shooters, but doesn't quite follow the same mixture of fast-paced, wall-running gameplay and slower, mech-based combat.Respawn is set to announce the details concerning Apex Legends Season 2 during EA Play in June. "For Season 2 you can expect a Battle Pass with more meaningful content, the introduction of a new Legend, the debut of a new weapon...and you didn't expect Kings Canyon to stay the same forever, did you?" McCoy wrote. Following the start of Season 2, Respawn is scheduled to release Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order on November 15 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. The Star Wars game is set after the events of Revenge of the Sith and sees you play as Jedi padawan Cal Kestis.Info from Gamespot.com

If you're an Xbox One owner who plays online multiplayer games, you're probably very familiar with Xbox Live Gold, Microsoft's premium service that lets you do just that. A 12-month membership sells for $60 at most retailers, but for a very limited time, you can grab an annual subscription to Xbox Live Gold for just $40 at MassGenie. The deal ends in less than 24 hours, so act fast.GET 12 MONTHS OF XBOX LIVE GOLD FOR $40 »Here's how to claim the offer at MassGenie: On the product page, click on the Power Deal circle. It'll prompt you to sign in or create an account--creating an account is free (and there's no guest checkout for Power Deals). After you're signed in, you'll automatically be redirected to checkout, and you'll see that the coupon (XBOXLIVE12M) has automatically been applied.After you check out, the Xbox Live Gold code will be sent to you in a tracking email after the Power Deal ends. The Xbox Live Gold code is the same as the tracking ID in your order history. To see the code, just click "track your package" in the email you'll receive, and you'll be redirected to your order details, where you can see the tracking ID/digital code to redeem at the bottom right.In addition to online multiplayer, Xbox Live Gold members gain access to exclusive discounts and free monthly games for Xbox One and Xbox 360. April's free Games With Gold currently include The Technomancer, Outcast: Second Contact, and Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2, so if you claim this deal, be sure to pick up those freebies while they're still available.Info from Gamespot.com

We're quickly coming up on the end of Fortnite Season 8, but Epic still has a few more challenges in store for players before Season 9 officially begins. Week 9's challenges are now live across PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch, and mobile, which means you have another chance to earn Battle Stars and unlock more of this season's skins and other Battle Pass rewards.If you're familiar with how Fortnite works by now, you'll know there's an added incentive to complete as many challenges as you can; if you finish all of the ones from a given week, you'll also clear a Discovery challenge, which will reward you with a special loading screen. These screens typically feature a cool or humorous piece of artwork, but the real reason you want to unlock them is because they each hide a subtle clue that points you to a free Battle Star (which levels your Battle Pass up by one tier) or Banner (which can be used as a profile icon) hidden somewhere around the island.Once you've completed nine weeks' worth of challenges, you'll unlock the loading screen pictured below. This one features Season 8's best new skin, Peely, rather unwisely trying to retrieve a treasure chest from a river of lava. Look in the background directly above the treasure chest, however, and you'll be able to spot an etching of a viking ship. This is the clue to where this week's free Battle Star can be found.As it turns out, there's a large wooden viking ship in the snowy mountaintop village located just southeast of Snobby Shores. Make your way to the area and you'll be able to easily spot the boat sitting near the edge of the waterfall. Approach it and the Battle Star will appear inside. Collect it as you would any other item, then finish the match and your Battle Pass will level up by one more tier. You can see the ship's exact location on the map below. We also walk you through exactly where to find it in the video at the top of this guide.If you've been keeping up with all of this season's free Battle Stars and Banners, you'll know there are a few caveats before you can find them in the game. Specifically, the items won't appear around the map unless you've first completed the necessary number of challenges and unlocked their corresponding loading screen, so you can't simply waltz to the right location and expect to find it unless you've done all of the other steps.If you still have any outstanding challenges from this season, be sure to check out our complete Fortnite Season 8 challenges guide. We've put together tips to help you finish all of this season's trickier missions. You can also see all of the cosmetics up for grabs in our Season 8 Battle Pass rewards gallery.Fortnite's 8.50 update arrived on April 25, and it marked the start of the anticipated Avengers: Endgame crossover event, which encompasses new Avengers-inspired cosmetics--like a cool Black Widow skin--and a Fortnite Endgame limited-time mode that features its own unique set of challenges to complete and rewards to unlock. The event is slated to run through to the end of Season 8, which formally wraps up on May 8.Info from Gamespot.com

How's Nintendo doing from a business perspective? Quite well. The company today reported earnings for this fiscal year ended March 31, and times are (mostly) good. Nintendo pulled in ¥1.2 trillion ($10.7 billion USD), which is an increase from ¥1.06 trillion ($9.4 billion USD) for the previous 12-month period. In terms of profit, Nintendo made ¥249.7 billion ($2.2 billion USD) in operating profit, compared to ¥177.5 billion ($1.6 billion USD) the year prior.Via Engadget, Nintendo sold 2.47 million Switch consoles in the final three months of the fiscal year, boosting the console's lifetime total to 34.74 million (which exceeds the lifetime sales of the N64). The 2.47 million Switch consoles sold during the final quarter of the fiscal year is down slightly from the 2.93 million consoles Nintendo sold in the same quarter last year. For the full fiscal year, Nintendo sold 16.95 million Switch systems; that's just under the 17 million that Nintendo forecasted it would sell the year, but it's up year-on-year.As for game sales, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate racked up 13.81 million copies sold, while Pokemon Let's Go: Eevee and Let's Go Pikachu combined for 10.63 million copies sold. Super Mario Party sold 6.4 million copies, while Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sold 7.47 million copies during the period (for a total of 16.7 million copies lifetime). A total of 23 different games, from Nintendo and others, sold more than 1 million copies on Nintendo Switch during the year. Another bright spot for Nintendo was its digital business. Sales of digital games grew 95.4 percent to ¥118.8 billion ($1.064B USD); Nintendo called out Switch digital games as showing "especially good growth." Sales of the Nintendo 3DS, which is now more than 8 years old, dropped 60.2 percent to 2.55 million units during the year. The NES Classic and SNES Classic combined to sell 5.95 million units.For more on Nintendo's earnings report and other related matters, check out the stories below:Nintendo Switch Top-Sellers List Shows Strength Of Smash Bros., PokemonNintendo Dispels New Switch Announcement At E3 RumorsHere's How Nintendo Switch And Its Recent Exclusives Are SellingNintendo Switch Has Officially Outsold The N64 Info from Gamespot.com

BlizzCon 2019 now has dates. The World of Warcraft and Overwatch developer's annual gaming show will be held November 1-2 at the Anaheim Convention Center.Tickets go on sale in two waves, the first of which commences on Saturday, May 4. The second wave will become available on May 8. In previous years, ticket-buyers received a goody bag, but this year, everyone gets to choose a special collectible statue.The choices include either a human footman or orc grunt; these are meant to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Warcraft franchise. You can see the two statues below. The statues will be available for everyone to buy in the future as well.Like in past years, BlizzCon 2019 is expected to feature gaming, esports, cosplay, camaraderie, and the latest Blizzard Entertainment news." There will be developer panels, esports contests, and more. There will also be a new "BlizzCon Pregame Festivities" event that's held outside the convention center the day before the show starts. This is described as a "casual get-together," and there is also a Darkmoon Faire event taking place on Thursday.Blizzard is changing up how ticketing works for BlizzCon 2019 and charging more. There are three options this year: the BlizzCon Pass ($230 USD), the BlizzCon Portal Pass ($550 USD), and the BlizzCon Benefit Dinner Pass ($750 USD). In 2018, it cost $200 to get in.The BlizzCon Pass gets you in the door and access to the Pregame Festivities event, in addition to the statue and in-game goodies. The BlizzCon Portal Pass, meanwhile, includes a number of extras to justify the $550 price tag. That ticket includes everything mentioned above, as well as access to the Darkmoon Faire at the Night at the Faire event taking place the day before BlizzCon starts, as well as a number of "convenience-related extras." These include first access into the show hall, preferred parking, separate lines, access to a dedicated lounge where people can hang out and chat with Blizzard developers.As for the $750 USD Benefit Dinner Pass, this is the ultimate package that gets you into a charity dinner event the night before BlizzCon where you can meet and speak with developers, artists, and other Blizzard people, along with all of the perks mentioned above. Proceeds from the dinner go to the CHOC Children's charity.To to BlizzCon's website here to get all the important details about tickets.Probably the biggest news from last year's BlizzCon was the reveal of Diablo Immortal, a new mobile game. Many were hoping to see Diablo 4, but it didn't happen, and fans voiced their concerns.Info from Gamespot.com

Madden NFL 20 has been announced with its cover star and a list of exciting-sounding new features, including the return of college football.Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes will be on the cover of Madden NFL 20. Mahomes is a good pick for cover athlete, as he's one of the most exciting players in the NFL right now. He was the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 2018.In terms of new features, Madden 20 brings a few especially noteworthy ones. Starting off, college football will be featured in the game in a limited capacity. A new mode called QB1 will see players creating a quarterback in college and then taking them through the College Football Playoff and eventually to the NFL Combine where they'll compete for a spot on an NFL roster."Last long enough and you just might leave a legacy and even play in a few Pro Bowls. This new and customizable career campaign is all about you, with personalized playable scenarios, events, and dynamic challenges. The choices you make early on will affect how your career pans out," EA says.There are 10 colleges to choose from in Madden 20, including Texas, Oregon, Oklahoma, Clemson, Florida, LSU, Miami, Texas Tech, USC, Florida St. It is a big deal that Madden 20 has college football, because EA has been out of the college football game for years amid various lawsuits. You can learn more about the situation here.Madden 20 also adds new "X-Factor Players." This new "game-changing" system will allow players to use "unique abilities" to make NFL superstars feel powerful. It appears Mahomes is one of them, and his unique ability is probably his quick feet and ability to escape."In total there will be around 50 Superstar X-Factor players and over 30 additional Superstar players," EA says. "The difference between the two are the Zone abilities and Superstar abilities. Zone abilities are best described as once-a-season moments that only the league's best can pull off, while Superstar abilities are traits that are unique to some of the most talented players that you see each and every game. In total there are over 20 Zone abilities for the 50 Superstar X-Factor players and over 140 Superstar abilities. Each game you will see and feel the difference because of these special traits."Additionally, Madden 20 features the "Urban Symphony," which is what EA is describing as "a soundtrack that highlights pop culture, hip-hop music, and urban lifestyle trends, while mixing in traditional musical elements of the sport (i.e. marching bands) to create an original soundtrack that truly delivers on the emotion, history and meaning of football."Madden 20 launches on August 2, but people who buy the more expensive Superstar Edition can play three days early. Info from Gamespot.com

A new month is just around the corner, which means Niantic will soon be rolling out a new set of Field Research tasks for Pokemon Go. The tasks are scheduled to begin appearing starting next Wednesday, May 1, at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET, and they'll be available through the end of June. On top of that, they'll give you another chance to catch a couple of fan-favorite Legendary Pokemon.Each time you achieve a Research Breakthrough during the next two months, you'll be rewarded with an encounter with one of four possible Legendaries: Ho-Oh, Lugia, Latios, or Latias. Both Ho-Oh and Lugia were previously available through Research Breakthroughs, but this marks the first time you'll be able to encounter the Eon Pokemon this way, which is helpful if you missed out on their recent Raid events.As usual, you'll be able to receive the new Field Research tasks by spinning the Photo Disc at Poke Stops. You can complete as many Field Research tasks as you'd like daily, but you'll only earn a stamp for the first one you finish per day. You'll need to collect a total of seven stamps to achieve a Research Breakthrough and encounter the Legendaries.Additionally, you'll be able to hatch new Pokemon from Eggs beginning this week. The Gen 4 Pokemon Turtwig, Chimchar, Piplup, and Bonsly may appear from 2 km Eggs, while Cubone, Combee, Buizel, Glameow, Bronzor, Skorupi, and Croagunk may hatch from 5 km Eggs. Finally, 10 km Eggs may produce Mawile, Absol, Shinx, Cranidos, Shieldon, and Riolu. You can read more details on the Pokemon Go website.Also on the way in May is a new Pokemon Go Community Day. This time, the event will take place on Sunday, May 19, and the featured Pokemon will be Torchic, one of the three starters from the series' Gen 3 games, Ruby and Sapphire. You'll also be able to earn triple the usual amount of Stardust for every Pokemon you catch during the event.In the meantime, you have another opportunity to catch Shiny Meltan, as the special Mythical Pokemon is appearing again from now until May 5. If you're unsure of how to find one, check out our guide on how to catch Meltan. This is also your last chance to capture Origin Forme Giratina; the Legendary is scheduled to leave Raid Battles on April 29.Info from Gamespot.com

The charming simplicity of BoxBoy, a series now four games deep, is right there in the character design. Qbby, the eponymous BoxBoy, has four corners, two dot eyes, and two legs. Qucy, who is newly playable in this game across both single-player and co-op, is the same design but with a big bow on her head. The BoxBoy games are lean and minimalist--this Switch version has some details in the background and a bit more color, but otherwise retains the 3DS series' visual simplicity. It's focused on giving you a dozen hours of fun and a bunch of puzzles that won't break your brain. They're not the kind of puzzle games you need to obsess over or master and BoxBoy! + BoxGirl! follows this trend, although its new co-op mode demands a slightly higher level of engagement.As with previous games in the series, BoxBoy! + BoxGirl! tasks you with solving puzzles by growing boxes out of yourself and using them to pass obstacles. In each level you're given a limit for how many boxes you can grow, which will change what sort of structures you can build and use. For example, if your limit is 2 boxes you can only build a small vertical or horizontal stack, but if you have a limit of 3 or more you can push out two horizontal boxes and one vertical to form a step, and then potentially keep building from there.With your blocks you can bridge gaps, block lasers, protect yourself from spikes, activate switches, and more. As both the single-player and co-op campaigns progress, you unlock new abilities. You can push yourself off the ground with a vertical stack and hop along, hanging off the side of it; you can fire your blocks across the screen; you can form a 'hook' with your blocks and use it to pull yourself up to a higher level. These skills and others are introduced gradually, and their applications are made immediately clear before their potential uses are stretched out over the levels that follow. The worlds you play through, which group levels together, are typically themed around specific obstacles and abilities, and towards the end of the game you'll face levels that will ask you to combine the numerous different skills you've learned. None of them are particularly difficult, but sleuthing through all your different options and figuring out the best way forward is satisfying.BoxBoy! + BoyGirl! Is the biggest game in the series, featuring 270 levels across three different campaigns, though there is some repetition in puzzle motifs. Alongside single-player and co-op, there's also an unlockable mode featuring Qudy, a rectangular box person who can turn himself sideways and make boxes that are either tall or long depending on his orientation. Qudy's quest is a fun extra, and the developers find some cool ways to work his oblong shape into puzzles. Maneuvering his lanky frame through each level is an interesting new challenge, although he's given fewer exciting abilities than his other box pals.It's the co-op mode that represents the biggest shake-up in BoxBoy! + BoxGirl!, as two players can team up to solve puzzles that require BoxBoy and BoxGirl to work together. Each character has their own box limit and will often need to perform different tasks in different parts of the level to benefit one another. The extremely simple controls mean that you can comfortably play with one Joy-Con each (which is good because there's no online play), and good communication is essential so that you can share ideas and puzzle through scenarios together.The puzzles are easy enough that less experienced players won't come up against too many challenges--two series veterans will likely breeze through the campaign, although they'll have a good time doing so. Brilliantly, you can also play the whole co-op campaign alone, switching between the two characters. Features like this usually don't work so well in games built specifically for co-op, but it's a good fit for these puzzles, which never require simultaneous action from both boxes. With some of Bye-Bye BoxBoy's more inventive elements--such as different block types--having sadly been dropped, co-op is far and away the biggest highlight that this entry brings to the series.You earn two different currency when you complete levels, one of which can be spent on various bonuses--challenge levels, music to listen to, mostly unnecessary 'assist' items and lousy 'comic' panels--while the other can be spent on cute costumes and in-level hints. You can unlock more of each type of currency by completing levels with as few boxes as possible and by collecting the crowns that pop up in each of them, which represents the game's greatest challenge.Collecting crowns is inessential to your progress, and the extra currency they earn you isn't particularly important--it builds up fast just by completing levels--but I still found myself instinctively trying to collect all of them. Sometimes the crown placement will be unimaginative, requiring little effort to nab. But often you'll need to think outside the box (pardon the pun) and really ponder how you can use your boxes within the environment, and puzzle through uses for your abilities you had not considered, to reach them. Grabbing the crowns is frequently more rewarding than just finishing the level, although if you want to tick off your other objective and finish the level with few blocks used, it's often best to ignore the crowns, meaning that completionists might want to run through many levels twice.In some ways, this game feels like a reintroduction to the series, which is fair, since it's BoxBoy's Switch debut. If you've played the previous BoxBoy games, you know what you're getting here--it's more of the same, but with a cool new co-op mode and the minor twist to the format that Qudy introduces. That's enough--BoxBoy has always been a light snack of a game, and it remains a great game to slowly chip away at when you're not in the mood for anything too taxing. For newcomers, it's a great entry point into the series, and a good low-stakes puzzle game to relax with. While Bye-Bye BoxBoy! remains the pinnacle of the series, BoxBoy! + BoxGirl! is a more than worthy entry. Info from Gamespot.com

This review contains minor spoilers about mission structure and overall story direction. There are no spoilers for major narrative moments.Around 10 hours into Days Gone, you're thrown into a hunting tutorial apropos of nothing. The over-the-top libertarian character takes you out with a rifle and shows you how to track a deer, although you've already had a tracking tutorial. You're then tasked with getting more meat for you and your buddy because your supply is running low, something you never have to do again. You also don't cook or eat; you can only donate meat to camps around the map to earn a negligible amount of trust and money with them. After a little while, even stopping to get meat off wolves that attacked you doesn't seem worth it.Like many things in Days Gone, hunting exists just to be there, an idea that is picked up and then abandoned at random. Unlike hunting, some of those ideas are even good in the moment. But most aspects of Days Gone lack purpose. Its many narrative threads flirt with being meaningful and interesting but never quite commit, with characters whose actions and motivations don't make sense. Riding a souped-up motorcycle through the world and taking out zombie nests and hordes is satisfying in the way that completing open-world checklists often is, but by the end, you're left to wonder what the point of it all was.The first act of the game--about 20 hours or so--sets up quite a few narrative arcs. Two years after the initial "Freaker" outbreak, biker buddies Deacon St. John and Boozer have become drifters doing odd jobs for nearby survivor camps and keeping mostly to themselves. Deacon's wife, Sarah, had been stabbed at the very beginning of the outbreak; Deacon put her on a government helicopter bound for a refugee camp so she could get medical attention, but when he and Boozer arrived, the camp has been overrun by Freaks, and Sarah had apparently died. Deacon is understandably not coping with it well. Boozer suggests riding north and leaving the memories behind, but Deacon's bike breaks down and is subsequently looted for parts, so one of your main goals is to earn trust and credits at the nearby camps in order to rebuild your motorcycle.The motorcycle is central to everything you do in Days Gone. Getting anywhere, including by fast travel, requires your bike, and if you want to save while out in the world, you better be right next to it. Getting off your bike is a matter of both your entrance and your exit; you need to stop far enough away from enemies so they don't hear you coming, but you also need to be able to run to your bike quickly if things go south and you need to escape. And, as you're sneaking past Freakers to loot things like bandages and ammo, you also need to be on the lookout for a gas can and some scrap metal to keep your bike in top shape--if it breaks down or runs out of gas, you're basically screwed. That said, gas and other loot do regenerate if you leave and return to a location, so you'll never truly run out of anything so long as you put in the time to look for it.At the beginning, you do jobs for two camps: Copeland's conspiracy theorist stronghold and Tucker's hellish forced-labor camp. Copeland's has a mechanic capable of upgrading your bike, while Tucker's has a well-stocked weapons merchant. Your starter junk bike gets about a mile per gallon, and you can't store a gas can on your bike or your person, so you either have to return to a camp to fuel up or constantly scrounge for gas cans out in Freaker territory. This makes wandering around and doing things in the open world frustrating at first, so you do a lot of throwaway missions for the two camps to start.Many of these early missions consist of cookie-cutter bounty-hunting and rescue jobs in which you go to a place, track a person using your apparently psychic Survival Vision to highlight footprints and other clues, and then kill some bandits or Freakers. Some of these require you to take the target alive, which often means chasing them on your bike and shooting at their tires with your pistol. If you happen to run out of gas or ammo, or if your bike is already weak and breaks down after a couple of bumpy turns, you auto-fail these missions and have to start over. You also accelerate with R2 and shoot with R1, which, while not horrible, is clunky and awkward.One early scene involving a drug thief kicks off a series of missions like these that, once completed, has no bearing on the rest of the game despite initial appearances; once you track down the stolen drugs you have to choose which camp to return them to, but there are no consequences either way, and then the situation is dropped entirely. The only result is getting some trust and credits with one of the camps--I chose Copeland simply because I wanted money for a better fuel tank. A lot of the story missions going forward, as you discover a third, more narratively relevant camp, follow the same structures as these earlier missions. But the focus on Tucker and Copeland specifically amounts to hours of nothing in the grand scheme of the story. Tucker's forced labor doesn't come back to bite anyone, and while Tucker and Copeland don't seem to like each other, doing work for one camp doesn't affect your relationship with the other. Once you get to the third camp, Lost Lake, Tucker and Copeland cease to matter at all, not least because Lost Lake has both a better mechanic and better weapons.Once you upgrade your bike a bit, though, the world opens up. No longer bound by low gas mileage and a weak arsenal, you can head further out and more handily take on enemy-controlled areas around the map. You clear ambush camps by killing everyone present and eliminate Freaker infestation zones by burning all their nests. In addition to trust and credits, clearing an ambush camp nets you resources to loot, a map of the area, and a new fast travel point; destroying an infestation zone allows you to fast travel in the area. Unlocking the map and neutralizing threats is satisfying in the way that cleaning up clutter bit by bit is, and you can see your work pay off in your bike's upgrades. However, there's little variety between each ambush camp and infestation zone, and they get repetitive early--especially because Deacon dry-heaves and whines about the nests smelling horrible at each one.The real motivation to do all of this is twofold. Early on in the game, Deacon's best friend Boozer is attacked by a group of Rippers, a doomsday cult with a number of bizarre rituals. The Rippers singe a tattoo off Boozer's arm and leave him with third-degree burns, so Deacon's purpose in life is to keep Boozer alive and healthy. This mostly involves finding sterile bandages and the one mission where you gather meat for him. On top of that, though, Deacon sees a helicopter belonging to the government agency NERO, which had been involved in the initial relief effort, flying overhead. That gives Deacon a bit of hope that Sarah might still be alive, since he'd put her on a NERO helicopter after she was stabbed, so you start stalking the NERO soldiers and scientists to investigate further.There are a number of flashbacks to Deacon's relationship with Sarah before the outbreak, bolstered by his hope that she's alive. They're largely awkward cutscenes interspersed with short sections of walking slowly while Sarah and Deacon talk about surface-level topics, and they don't ever provide a convincing reason why they're together. Deacon is a biker and Sarah is a "nice girl" scientist, which is fine, but "opposites attract" isn't enough to make their relationship compelling. It's romantic in that Deacon hasn't given up on Sarah, but the main takeaway from the flashbacks is that they're physically attracted to each other and that Deacon doesn't talk about his feelings.The NERO arc is where things really pick up. Spying on the NERO scientists consists of insta-fail stealth missions. They can be frustrating before you unlock abilities to improve your stealth skills, but the conversations you overhear are legitimately interesting and answer questions that other zombie fiction often neglects. For example, you learn from one eavesdropping on a scientist studying Freaker scat that they eat more than just other people and each other--they also eat plants, and that means they're not going to starve any time soon (like in 28 Days Later). Deacon quickly gets in contact with a NERO researcher who uses government resources to track down what might have happened to Sarah. Even though their relationship is confusing, it is a tempting mystery.Abandoned Nero medical units and research sites contain more small details, including recorders that play snippets of scenes--a scientist studying a Freaker specimen, the moment a camp got overrun, or just banter between soldiers. Getting inside a unit is a matter of refueling the generator, making sure to find and disable every speaker nearby so the noise doesn't attract Freakers. Finding each speaker can be a bit tricky at certain sites, which makes the moment you turn the power on more exciting and the realization that you're in the clear more of a relief. And in addition to satisfying your curiosity, you're also given the more tangible reward of an injector that improves your health, stamina, and bullet-time-like focus ability.As you learn more about NERO and the Freakers, you're introduced to new, more powerful types of Freaks, including a berserker and an all-female variant that screams to attract more Freaks your way. They don't really provide new challenges so much as slow you down, and they feel like a stopgap measure to tide you over until the first horde-based mission around 40 hours into the game. That first horde mission is exhilarating--running around while using tight spaces and molotovs to keep the horde off you, eventually taking out hundreds of Freakers, is a well-earned victory. But that mission is followed very quickly by another one, and after a short break, you have two more nearly back-to-back horde missions that lead up to the end of the main story. Without any breathing room, the hordes are exhausting to deal with, and you'll likely have to stop everything to loot and rebuild your stockpile of resources after each one just so you can progress.Ultimately, though, Days Gone isn't about NERO or Sarah or the Freakers. It's about Deacon, and what he wants is what matters. Narrative threads are dropped as soon as Deacon no longer has a use for them. Copeland and Tucker only matter until Deacon gets to a camp that has better supplies. Boozer's health is only important because it's Deacon's reason for living. Even the fascinating little details about the Freakers are useless to Deacon, who only cares about Sarah--but not what Sarah wants or needs, just that his "ol' lady" might be alive somewhere. Every character is seen through this Deacon-focused lens, and as a result, they're two-dimensional.Deacon is selfish, and it's simply boring that the game is uncritical of him.Deacon does not learn anything over the course of the game, and the story is concerned with validating his actions and feelings above all else. When one character urges him not to kill anyone in cold blood, Deacon "proves" that murder is better than mercy. As Boozer nearly breaks through to Deacon about learning to let go, Deacon learns something new about NERO and clings to his hope even harder. Deacon also has a policy where he doesn't kill unarmed women, which does not affect the story in any way and goes completely unexamined. There's no introspection here; Deacon is selfish, and it's simply boring that the game is uncritical of him.I did a lot of things in Days Gone. I burned every single Freaker nest; I cleared every ambush camp; I maxed out my bike; I took out a few optional hordes just because. Like Deacon with Sarah, I kept going because I hoped to find something, to follow a thread to a possibly fascinating or satisfying or impactful conclusion. But at the end of it all, I'd only gotten scraps.Info from Gamespot.com

Anthem developer BioWare has announced some changes to the game's extra-content release schedule. Writing on Reddit, the developer announced seven planned releases have been delayed, including the major Cataclysm event."It's been 10 weeks since the early access release of Anthem. While we have been quiet publicly, we have been hard at work in the background and we wanted to provide an update on the state of the game," BioWare said. "We have learned a lot since the game went live. We have heard a lot of feedback from all of you, and we have been working diligently to improve as many things as we can in the short term."BioWare has supported Anthem with bug fixes and additional changes (including the new 1.1.0 update that's out now) that help "point us in the right direction for the future." However, BioWare acknowledged that it still has "a long way to go before Anthem becomes the game we all want it to be."Looking ahead, BioWare said it plans to prioritise fixing bugs and improving the overall stability of Anthem. "The reality is there are more things to fix and improve than we planned for. While this is the best thing to do for the game, it means some items from the calendar will be delayed," BioWare said.The following Anthem features have been delayed:Mastery SystemGuildsLegendary Missions – Phase IIWeekly Stronghold ChallengeLeaderboardsSome Freeplay EventsCataclysmFor now, BioWare is keeping quiet on these delayed features, but new information should come in due time. "We want to make sure everything we add to the game has a purpose and fits with our long term goals. When we have information to share on the items above, we will do so," BioWare said.The studio did, however, address some part of it. For example, the Cataclysm event is a "big focus," and BioWare said it sees it as an "important addition to the game.""The Cataclysm will bring new challenges and rewards and pushes the story of Anthem forward. As our work continues, we will share more with you in May," it said.BioWare also said it's aware of the concerns some have about end-game loot. "We agree that our loot and progression systems need to be improved and we are working towards this. When we have more information to share, we will," BioWare said.Also in the post, BioWare admitted that it hasn't done the best job at communicating with fans. Going forward, BioWare said it plans to stay quiet for longer."A lesson we have learned is we have been talking about things too early. There are so many factors that can cause us to pivot on our plans--whether it’s bugs & stability issues, player feedback, or complications with a feature that require us to take more time to deliver it," it said. "Our goal is to tell you about new content and features once the work is closer to being done."While that is true, BioWare is also hoping to communicate better with players earlier, too, through a test server on PC. BioWare will launch a Player Feedback Environment (PFE) where players can check out new content before it's released publicly to share feedback with BioWare.In closing, BioWare said Anthem faces an long, uphill battle to get where it needs to be."We believe in Anthem. We believe the game will be great, but we recognize getting there will take a lot of hard work," the developer said. "We want to do that work and we want you all to join us on the journey to get there."Anthem launched in February behind mixed reviews. Despite that, it had a strong first month of sales, in the United States at least. Info from Gamespot.com

How did the US video game industry fare in March 2019? The NPD Group has released its report for the month, shining a light on the best-performing consoles and games in March.Starting with games, The Division 2 was the top-selling game of the month, and it becomes the second best-selling title of 2019, only behind Kingdom Hearts III. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice came in at No. 2, and it is the second-highest launch-month sales for FromSoftware; it's only behind Dark Souls III.Another highlight in March was MLB 19: The Show, which came in at No. 3. The PS4-exclusive set a new franchise record for first-month sales; it also set a new all-time record for first-month sales across the entire baseball category. Devil May Cry 5 also came out in March, and it enjoyed the second highest launch-month sales in series history; only Devil May Cry 4 outperformed it. One final highlight was that Kingdom Hearts III, which released back in January, is now the best-selling Kingdom Hearts game ever.Overall, total game spending in March 2019 amounted to $547 million; that's down 11 percent year-over-year.Moving to hardware, the Nintendo Switch was March 2019's best-selling console, and the first quarter of the year overall, across units sold and dollars spent. The Switch's strong performance wasn't enough to stabilise the entire hardware sector, as total hardware spending for March 2019 dropped 15 percent to $282 million.Microsoft and Sony are working on new consoles, so it might be people are holding off their purchases for now. Retailer GameStop has said it expects new console to be announced soon. Just recently, a new report said Nintendo will release a cheaper Switch model in June.With games, hardware, and accessories sales combined, total US industry video game spending reached $1.2 billion in March; that's down 11 percent year-over-year.March 2019 US SalesTop 20 Games All PlatformsThe Division 2^Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice^MLB 19: The ShowDevil May Cry 5Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*Red Dead Redemption IINBA 2K19GTA VYoshi's Crafted World*Call of Duty: Black Ops 4^Anthem^Mario Kart 8*Jump ForceNew Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*Far Cry New DawnMinecraft#Battlefield V^The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*BorderlandsAssassin's Creed : Odyssey2019 Year-To-Date Top 10 GamesKingdom Hearts IIIThe Division 2^Anthem^Resident evil 2Red Dead Redemption IIJump ForceSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate8Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice^Call of Duty: Black Ops 4^New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*All Platforms 12 Months Ending March 2019Red Dead Redemption IICall of Duty: Black Ops 4^NBA 2K19Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*Madden NFL 19^Spider-ManGod of WarAssassin's Creed OdysseyFIFA 19^Mario Kart 8*March 2019 Xbox OneThe Division 2Sekiro: Shadows Die TwiceDevil May Cry 5AnthemRed Dead Redemption IICall of Duty: Black Ops 4NBA 2K19Battlefield VFar Cry New DawnMarch 2019 PS4The Division 2MLB 19: The ShowSekiro: Shadows Die TwiceDevil May Cry 5Red Dead Redemption IINBA 2K19Call of Duty: Black Ops 4Jump ForceSpider-ManGTA VMarch 2019 Nintendo SwitchSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate*Yoshi's Crafted World*Mario Kart 8*New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*Super Mario Party*Super Mario Odyssey*Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu*Pokemon: Let's Go Eevee*Mario & Rabbids: Kingdom BattleMarch 2019 3DSKirby's Extra Epic Yarn*Pokemon: Ultra Sun*Pokemon: Ultra Moon*The Legend of Zelda: Marjora's Mask 3D*Super Mario Maker*Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey*Super Smash Bros.*Mario Kart 7*Super Mario 3D Land*Luigi's Mansion** Digital sales not included^ PC digital sales not included# Minecraft digital sales on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One included Info from Gamespot.com

PS4, Xbox One, and PC shooter World War Z has made a strong start in the UK games chart, finishing top in its debut week. Sales monitor Chart-Track says the co-op game, which is set in the same universe as the 2013 film of the same name, sold more physical copies than any other title in the UK for the week ending April 20. That's despite the PC version not even receiving a boxed edition in the UK.Below Saber Interactive's zombie game, FIFA 19 holds its place at No.2--a position it has now held for three consecutive weeks. The Division 2, however, falls two places to No.3 this week.Two other new games enter the chart this week: Snooker 19 debuts at No.9, while My Time at Portia finishes at No.27. You can read more about the latter in our My Time at Portia review, in which Ginny Woo awarded the management sim a 6/10.World War Z, meanwhile, has sold well since launching on April 16, with more than 1 million copies shifted worldwide already. Our review for the game is currently in the works; for now, check out the launch trailer above or 90 minutes of World War Z gameplay.You can read the full top 10 sales chart for this week below, courtesy of UKIE and GfK Chart-Track. Note this table does not include digital sales data, and so should not be considered representative of all UK game sales.World War ZFIFA 19The Division 2Mario Kart 8 DeluxeRed Dead Redemption 2Assassin's Creed OdysseyYoshi's Crafted WorldSekiro: Shadows Die TwiceSnooker 19New Super Mario Bros. U DeluxeInfo from Gamespot.com

2019's Call of Duty game is still yet to be announced, but some members of the public have seemingly already played it. A select few American athletes have shared images across social media of them playing this year's game--whatever it might be.Riley Ridley, Tajae Sharpe, and N'Keal Harry have each posted pictures of themselves playing the new shooter at what looks to be an official event, while All Games Delta has more images. We've reached out to Activision to verify this isn't some elaborate ruse from the American footballers. View this post on InstagramJust had the opportunity to play the SUPER COOL NEW CALL OF DUTY in Nashville 🤫🤫 #CallOfDutypartner 🔥🔥A post shared by Riley Ridley (@rilo_12) on Apr 23, 2019 at 12:41pm PDTThe publisher is yet to announce this year's Call of Duty. Traditionally, each game in the series gets announced in the May before it eventually launches, so we might be just around the corner from Activision lifting the lid on this year's game.We do know it's Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare developer Infinity Ward working on the upcoming shooter. Infinity Ward also created the Modern Warfare sub-series, as well as Call of Duty: Ghosts. There are rumors this year's title is Modern Warfare 4, but this has not yet been confirmed. That fits with the developer release cycle that has been established.Exclusive!!! 🤐🤐🤐S/o @CallofDuty for the early look at this year’s game!!! #CallOfDutyPartner pic.twitter.com/70R7g9kgfM — Keal (@NkealHarry15) April 23, 2019Activision has confirmed, however, that 2019's Call of Duty game will include a single-player campaign, despite last year's Black Ops 4 doing away with the traditional story mode. Activision also confirmed the new game will have a "huge expansive multiplayer world," as well as "fun co-op gameplay."Info from Gamespot.com

At the end of the first night for the live concert special Persona Super Live 2019, a full trailer for the updated version of Persona 5, called Persona 5 Royal, was shown. There was a ton of new content revealed including the new party member for the Phantom Thieves, additional areas for social activities, new attack animations, an extra Confidant, and a whole bunch more. As for release date, Persona 5 Royal is set to launch in Japan on October 31, 2019 and worldwide sometime in 2020 exclusively for PlayStation 4.In the trailer, you can hear a new theme song and watch gameplay from areas that were not included in the original version. Particularly, you can roam around Kichijoji, engage in new social scenes with characters, visit an aquarium, and play pool and darts with the whole team at a game bar called Penguin Sniper.You can see additional attack animations as well, specifically one featuring Haru firing her grenade launcher atop Morgana as a speeding bus in a sort of partner attack similar to those added in Persona 4 Golden. In another own shown in the trailer, Makoto is seen throwing lightning-fast fists Kenshiro-style after Ryuji sets up the attack. It also appears that there may be an additional palace based on a brief shot of a new animated cutscene. Joker himself uses a hookshot to get around different areas of existing palaces and solve new puzzles.The new party member goes by the name of Kasumi Yoshizawa, and she's also a transfer student at Shujin Academy who's a rhythmic gymnast; she's shown elegantly dancing in an animated cutscene. You can see her in combat through a critical hit animation in the trailer for a brief moment as well--she uses a rapier-style sword and a Winchester-type rifle. Kasumi is going to play a major role and change up the original storyline and seems to be closely tied to Joker and Goro Akechi. There's another major character by the name of Takuto Maruki, who is a school counselor at Shujin and a new Confidant that appears after the Kamoshida debacle.The new character Kasumi Yoshizawa in her Phantom Thief outfit (via Famitsu)And if the original game wasn't long enough for you, there will be a third semester in the storyline along with extra events throughout the game. There will also be new story beats towards the end of the game to help flesh out the conclusion. You can catch a glimpse of it below, where the whole crew is celebrating New Year's Day and Yusuke appears to be setting up the perfect group picture.There is a lot more to breakdown, which you can expect from us soon. In the meantime, watch the new trailer for the Japanese version of Persona 5 Royal above.Info from Gamespot.com

Hindsight 20/20 is an upcoming action adventure game developed by Triple I, an independent studio composed of former BioWare, ArenaNet, and Sucker Punch veterans. We played through a Hindsight 20/20 demo with Triple I creative director Hemanshu Chhabra, who previously worked on BioWare's MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic. Prior to playing the demo, Chhabra pointed to both Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask as inspirations for Hindsight 20/20's gameplay loop and combat, before adding The Wind Waker as an influence for the game's art style.In Hindsight 20/20, you play as Jehan, an orphan who lives in a city that prides itself on being nonviolent. Despite this, Jehan's father is killed--for reasons unknown--by Aurthur, a headstrong man whose influence in the city grows by the day. Jehan seeks vengeance for his father's death, as well as answers in regards to a mysterious virus that is infecting the populace and transforming them into seemingly monstrous creatures called Raakshasas. We faced off against Aurthur in Hindsight 20/20's demo, which can be seen in the video below.Combat is relatively simple; you utilize dodges, melee attacks, and special abilities to manage groups of enemies. While fighting, both you and enemies have two meters: one for health and the other for morale. Non-lethal attacks wound someone's morale, while lethal ones chip away at a person's health. Your enemies, or you, are defeated when either of those meters is reduced to zero.Jehan is armed with a stun baton that damages morale and a sword that damages health. The former gives him a more defensive playstyle that pushes enemies away and allows him to send out bolts of lightning to zap foes into submission. Wielding the latter gives Jehan a far more aggressive fighting style, one that allows him to utilize the sword as a deadly boomerang or summon a field of blades that impale everyone around him. You can switch between either one at any point in the game, and boss enemies will respond differently depending on whether you've shown yourself to be a peaceful fellow or a murderer.However, combat choices didn't create major changes in how enemies fought--Aurthur being the one exception. There weren't enough enemy types to warrant the use of one of Jehan's weapons over the other, so the choice of weapon felt arbitrary, at least during the demo. Simply picking whichever matches the type of run you're going for dialogue-wise seems like the only real decision you need to make. Chhabra said there are several other enemy types, introduced later in the game, but whether these enemies push you to weigh the moral ramifications against any benefit either weapon might provide remains to be seen.As is, combat isn't all that engaging. Every encounter is reduced to waiting for an enemy to attack so they expose themselves for a counter. That style of gameplay has worked in games before, such as older entries in The Legend of Zelda, but Hindsight 20/20 seemingly lacks a wide enough variety of unique enemy types to make its combat stand out.The best parts of the demo were the tense conversations with the main NPCs, knowing that one wrong word could change the outcome of Jehan's story in several different ways--ranging from whether friendships were maintained to who would survive by a mission's end. I can see those moments having a butterfly effect on the story that a player would want to correct.As an example, we played through the Hindsight 20/20 demo a second and third time, making different choices in each one--deciding to be selfish in the second run and a merciless killer in the third. As seen in the video below, these choices lead to very different outcomes in comparison to the merciful run shown above. Some of the changes are minor (NPCs and enemies condemn Jehan for his behavior) while others have much larger, more story-driven effects (saving Jehan's friend, Andrew, from committing suicide).The concept of choice is at the center of every part of Hindsight 20/20, a game aptly named for the expression, "Hindsight is 20/20." Chhabra said that the game has seven different endings, and the campaign is about six hours long. The game tracks every major choice you make, ranging from who you killed and spared, to how you responded in certain conversations. At the end of the campaign, Jehan is born again at the beginning of the story with this record in hand, and you can use what you've learned from every previous life to fix your mistakes in the next one."There's no ideal ending," Chhabra clarified. He continued by saying three of the endings have some overlap but the other four are all "very different, very distinct." It's impossible to save everyone and get a completely good ending--you'll just have to replay the game until you get the conclusion that you think is best for Jehan.It's an intriguing concept--utilizing the replayability of an RPG as an in-game feature--but it's certainly one that feels more prominent when it comes to dialogue. I'm not wholly convinced the combat side of the game matches that level of intricacy. At the very least, there definitely needs to be some more variety when it comes to the kinds of enemies you fight in order to challenge how you think about approaching combat.Hindsight 20/20 is scheduled to release on Xbox One, PS4, Switch, and PC in Q2 2020.Info from Gamespot.com