Pokemon Go's next Community Day is just around the corner. The monthly event returns this Sunday, October 21, which means Pokemon Go players around the world will soon have another opportunity to capture rare Pokemon, take advantage of in-game bonuses, and even add a special event move to their repertoire.While every Community Day lasts only three hours, the particulars of each event vary month by month. To help get you prepared, we've rounded up everything you need to know about October's Community Day below, from its start time in each region to the bonuses and featured Pokemon that will be available.What Time Does It Start?Unlike most of Pokemon Go's other real-world events, which are typically hosted at a particular location, each month's Community Day takes place during a specific window of time, meaning you can participate from anywhere. The event is also available around the world, although its hours will vary depending on your region.Regardless of where you live, the Community Day runs for three hours, during which time you'll find increased spawns of the featured Pokemon and be able to take advantage of the featured bonuses. These hours are typically consistent each month, so if you've participated in previous events, you'll already know when it'll be available. If you're new to the game or simply need a refresher on its schedule, you can see the event hours for each region below.North America11 AM - 2 PM PT2 PM - 5 PM ETEurope, Middle East, and Africa11 AM - 2 PM BST10 AM - 1 PM UTCAsia-Pacific12 PM - 3 PM JSTWhat Is The Featured Pokemon?During each Community Day, one particular species of Pokemon will appear in the wild much more frequently than usual, giving you an opportunity to further fill out your Pokedex. This time, the feature Pokemon is Beldum, a Steel/Psychic-type first introduced in the series' third-generation games, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire. You won't want to miss your chance to get Beldum; not only is it fairly rare, it is capable of evolving into Metagross, an especially powerful Pokemon that would make a great addition to anyone's team. You'll also have a chance of encountering Shiny Beldum during the event.There's an added benefit to capturing as many featured Pokemon as you can. Typically, if you manage to evolve the monster into its final form (or meet some other pre-determined condition that Niantic announces) before the event ends, it will learn a move it isn't normally able to. Such is the case with this month's Community Day; if you evolve Beldum into Metang and then Metagross during the event hours, it'll learn the powerful attack Meteor Mash.Any Metang that evolves during the event will learn the move, even if you've obtained it before the Community Day began. However, it will only be able to learn the move if it evolves during the event, so you'll have a fairly brief window of opportunity to get the attack. Fortunately, this time Niantic is giving players one extra hour after the Community Day ends to evolve Metang and learn Meteor Mash, so you'll have a little more time than usual to get it.What Other Bonuses Are There?On top of increased spawns of a particular Pokemon, Niantic always offers players a helpful bonus to take advantage of during the Community Day. This time, Pokemon Eggs will hatch at a quarter of the distance they typically require, meaning you'll be able to hatch Pokemon four times as fast while the event is running. There's also one recurring bonus in each Community Day: any Lure modules that are used during the event will remain active for three hours, rather than their typical 30-minute duration.Info from Gamespot.com

A new generation of Pokemon have arrived in Pokemon Go. Following the game's latest update, which developer Niantic began rolling out to devices last week, many Pokemon originally introduced in the Sinnoh region from Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum have started to appear in the wild, giving you a whole new slate of pocket monsters to catch.To commemorate the arrival of Gen 4 Pokemon, The Pokemon Company has shared a new trailer featuring some of the newly added monsters. Like the teaser video the company released last week, this trailer shows the new Pokemon frolicking in their natural habitats; you can see Piplup swimming in arctic waters and Pikachu chasing Gen 4's ridiculously cute Electric rodent, Pachirisu, through a forest. You can watch the video below.As was the case with Gen 3 Pokemon, Niantic will roll the Sinnoh monsters out to Pokemon Go in waves, so you won't be able to capture all of them right away. Gen 4 added 107 Pokemon to the series, and you can already find the starters Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup in the wild, along with a handful of other Pokemon like Bidoof and Kricketot.Gen 4 was also notable for introducing a number of new evolved and pre-evolved forms for many older Pokemon, such as Electabuzz, Magmar, Tangela, Lickitung, and others. Eevee likewise received two new possible evolutions: the Ice-type Glaceon and the Grass-type Leafeon. The fourth generation also added a long list of new Legendary Pokemon; one of them, Giratina, has already been teased at the end of the latest trailer.Pokemon Go's next Community Day event is scheduled to take place this Sunday, October 21. This time, the featured Pokemon will be Beldum; as previously speculated, if players manage to evolve it into its final form, Metagross, before the event ends, it'll learn the powerful new attack Meteor Mash. Info from Gamespot.com

It's almost November, and that means that streaming services like Amazon Prime Video will be getting plenty of new content for you to binge during your free time. On top of the traditional fair--movies and TV series--Amazon is also offering NFL games, streaming live on Thursday nights.Easily the best movie coming to Amazon on November 1 is the 1985 classic Weird Science. In the John Hughes film, a couple of high school nerds use computer technology to create what they think is the perfect woman. Somehow, their creation comes to life, but she ends up making them better and more confident people. While the technology in the movie may not speak well to a younger, contemporary audience, the themes of fitting in and being cool still hold true today.Speaking of coming-of-age movies, the 1991 feature My Girl is also headed to Amazon on November 1. Anna Chlumsky plays Vada, a young girl who is about to become a teenager and living with her widowed mortician father. She learns a bit about life and relationships with her friend Thomas, played by Macaulay Culkin. Sure, it's more of a family drama, but there are still some fun, comedic moments that make this a classic flick.If horror is your thing, there are a few solid choices for November. On November 1, Candyman: Day of the Dead, Hostel, and Child's Play all arrive to Amazon. Yes, it's a weak month for horror, but you may want to mark your calendars for November 15 when Season 3 of Syfy's The Expanse hits Amazon, as it is a spectacular series.Everything Coming To Amazon Prime In November 2018November 1Live SportsThursday Night Football: Oakland Raiders vs. San Francisco 49ersMovies21 (2008)2001 Maniacs (2005)Alice (2016)Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)Candyman: Day of the Dead (1999)Child's Play (1988)Christmas with the Kranks (2004)Cruel Intentions (1999)De-Lovely (2004)Desperate Hours (1990)Die Another Day (2002)Duck, You Sucker (A Fistful of Dynamite) (1971)Excalibur (1981)Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969)Hostel (2005)Hostel: Part II (2007)Jacob's Ladder (1990)Leaving Las Vegas (1995)Like Water (2011)Little Man Tate (1991)Little Odessa (1994)Lord of War (2005)Made (2001)Making Contact (Joey) (1985)Michael Clayton (2007)Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007)Mulholland Falls (1996)My Girl (1991)Terms of Endearment (1983)The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)The Adventures of Tintin (2011)The Birdcage (1996)The Living Daylights (1987)The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972)The Mexican (2001)The Motorcycle Diaries (Diarios de motocicleta) (2004)The Red Violin (Le violon rouge) (1998)The World Is Not Enough (1999)Tyler Perry's Boo 2! A Madea Halloween (2017)Weird Science (1985)November 2SeriesHomecoming (Prime Original series), Season 1MoviesWonder (2017)November 3MoviesKick-Ass (2010)November 6SeriesThe Durrells in Corfu, Season 3November 8Live SportsThursday Night Football: Carolina Panthers vs. Pittsburgh SteelersNovember 9SeriesBeat (Prime Original series), Season 1Little Big Awesome (Prime Original series), Season 1bPatriot (Prime Original series), Season 2November 10MoviesThe Children Act (2017)November 15Live SportsThursday Night Football: Green Bay Packers vs. Seattle SeahawksSeriesThe Expanse, Season 3MoviesGotti (2018)November 16SeriesGymkhana Files (Prime Original series), Season 1Kung Fu Panda Village (Prime Original series), Season 1aMoviesColdplay: A Head Full of Dreams (Prime Exclusive; available on Prime Video shortly following the theatrical release) (2018)November 17MoviesMcQueen (2018)Siberia (2018)November 18MoviesCondemned (2015)November 20SeriesCreative Galaxy Holiday Special (Prime Original series), SpecialPete the Cat Holiday Special (Prime Original series), SpecialLittle Women, Season 1November 21MoviesBox of Moon Light (1996)Loving Pablo (2017)November 22MoviesWild Kratts: Creatures of the Deep Sea (2016)November 24MoviesDownsizing (2017)November 29Live SportsThursday Night Football: New Orleans Saints vs. Dallas CowboysMoviesHarry Brown (2009)November 30SeriesInside Jokes (Prime Original series), Season 1MoviesSleepless (2017) Info from Gamespot.com

Assassin's Creed Odyssey is a big, beautiful, and bold game, and one of its standout features is the ability to choose to play as a woman, Kassandra, or a man, Alexios, right from the start.Ubisoft Quebec's previous Assassin's Creed game, Syndicate, also featured male and female protagonists but not on the level of Odyssey. That older game featured brother and sister assassins Evie and Jacob Frye with a character-swapping setup throughout. For Odyssey, Phillips said the team learned from that game but wanted to go "even farther" with player choice in Odyssey.Playing as either Alexios or Kassandra does not affect the story or gameplay. However, both characters have different voice actors and character models, similar to how the male and female Commander Shepards were treated in Mass Effect.We recently chatted with game director Scott Phillips about where the idea for the dual protagonist system came from, the extra development work it required, the feedback so far, and more. You can read our full interview below.Ubisoft declined to answer our questions about how Odyssey's marketing focused more on Alexios than Kassandra and if Ubisoft is committed to bringing back the dual protagonist option for future instalments in the series, as Phillips himself had suggested.The publisher also declined to reveal statistics about how many Odyssey players are playing as Kassandra versus Alexios, nor did the company respond to the controversy at E3 2014 when a representative said making female playable characters in Assassin's Creed: Unity would have doubled the workload.GameSpot: Where did the idea come from to allow players to choose between a male and female hero in Odyssey? Was this something Ubisoft had in mind for previous games?Scott Phillips: Coming off of the experience we at Ubisoft Quebec had on Assassin's Creed Syndicate with Jacob and Evie Frye, we knew we wanted to go even farther with Odyssey to incorporate the notion of protagonist choice. With the setting of ancient Greece and especially because of the Spartan heritage of our protagonist, we felt it was a great fit for Assassins Creed Odyssey. Ultimately, giving more players the chance to feel that the protagonist is their character and that they are making their choices is key to what we set out to deliver with Odyssey--a game where promoting player choice was central to every decision we made.Can you talk about the creative and technical challenges of employing such an ambitious option? I can only fathom how many different parts of the game it must have touched.From player dialog, to NPC lines, to player gear, to animations--the choice to pursue male and female protagonists certainly impacted many aspects of the game.As an example, on Odyssey we built a huge new interactive dialog system, and this actually gave us the ability to build it from the get-go with that option for male or female protagonists. So in a way it was easier than it would’ve been to try and retrofit it into an existing system.Another example was on the writing side where any line that used a specific protagonist name or mentioned a gendered pronoun had to be written and recorded twice and had to be selected at run time to match the choice the player had made. For example "Get him!" needed to have an alternate line recorded and technically set up to allow for the NPCs to say "Get her!" when the player was playing Kassandra. This certainly put additional work on the audio and writing teams but because of our experience on Syndicate we already had the technical knowledge and basis for how to accomplish this.Ultimately, everyone on the team was fully invested in this from the beginning and did everything they could to make it happen--which has given us the great results we have in Odyssey and allowed players to be more connected than ever to their protagonist.What did you hear during pre-release tests about the dual protagonist system? What did people say early on, and how did that feedback shape what you launched with?The vast majority of feedback we've received during playtests over the last year is the same as we hear now--that players love the option to choose between Kassandra and Alexios because it makes them feel more connected than ever to their character and their choices. So in effect, that early feedback reinforced that we had made the right decision.I read an interview with Ubisoft chief creative officer Serge Hascoet where he said Odyssey was nearly finished 11 months ago. How much of that time was spent on elements of the game related to the dual protagonists or the story?Serge was probably referring our "Alpha" state, that we reached roughly a year before our launch this October. What this meant was that all of our major features and most of the content of the game were in and fully playable from start to finish at a rough state. As an example, only some areas of the game were fully voiced by actors and the game was only roughly tuned and balanced. It gave us our first real chance to playtest the full game--both internally on the team and with external playtesters--to get a sense of where we needed to make adjustments.At Alpha we had no doubts that the protagonist choice of Kassandra or Alexios was key to the experience.The story beats for the entire Odyssey story--reuniting your family--were present in the game and went through minimal changes after Alpha. Some of the world and character content was not yet fully fleshed out but other elements were nearly done--so players at Alpha could get a good sense for the game, but still had to make some assumptions because it was not yet fully voiced by actors.What did remain at that point for the story was the massive effort of writing, revising, and recording all of the content needed to deliver this enormous game – so there was never a shortage of work and iteration over those intervening 11 months.Now that you've launched, what's some of the feedback you've heard so far from fans about the option to choose?What we hear from the vast majority of players is that they love the option to choose and the seamless way in which it was integrated. It gives them the ability to feel like more than ever Assassins Creed is their game with their choices--and that makes us extremely happy.Info from Gamespot.com

Microsoft's newest internal game studio, The Initiative, continues to add big-names. The company has hired Rockstar Games veteran Tom Shepherd, who was the technical director for Red Dead Redemption 1, Max Payne 3, and Grand Theft Auto V. He also worked on Midnight Club 3 and Midnight Club Remix during his 11 years at Rockstar San Diego.WindowsCentral first reported Shepherd's move to The Initiative. It's not immediately clear what role Shepherd will have at The Initiative. The Initiative's careers page shows an opening for Technical Director, which might be the position that Shepherd has filled.Whatever the case, Shepherd is just the latest big name that Microsoft has brought on at The Initiative. Microsoft previously hired Red Dead Redemption 1 writer/designer Christian Cantamessa, along with God of War lead producer Brian Westergaard. Other newly hired employees include Dan Neuburger (a 12-year veteran of Crystal Dynamics), Blake Fischer (a 16-year Microsoft veteran in publishing), Annie Lohr (formerly a recruiter at Respawn and Snapchat), and Lindsey McQueeney (former recruiter at Google, Crystal Dynamics, and 38 Studios).The Initiative was announced at E3 as part of Microsoft's wider announcement of new studios and acquisitions. The company, which is based in Santa Monica, says its ambition is "about craft, creating story, innovating, and looking ahead to the next big thing." While the company is owned by Microsoft, it claims to operate independently.In addition to establishing The Initiative, Microsoft announced at E3 that it acquired Playground Games (Forza Horizon), Compulsion Games (We Happy Few), Ninja Theory (Hellblade), and Undead Labs (State of Decay). Microsoft is rumoured to acquire Fallout: New Vegas developer Obsidian next. Info from Gamespot.com

If you've tried logging onto PlayStation Network or playing an online game on PlayStation 4, you may have found yourself unable to connect. That's because PlayStation Network is suffering from various outages at the moment, without any indication of when they'll be resolved. [Update: It appears the issues are now resolved]The PSN status page lists two important categories as experiencing trouble right now: Account Management and Gaming and Social. PlayStation Now, Video, Vue, Music, and the PlayStation Store, all of which previously had been listed as out, have now gone back online. The details underneath the Gaming and Social category state, "You may have some difficulty launching games, applications, or online features. Our engineers are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible, and we thank you for your patience."We're aware that some users are experiencing issues logging into PSN. Thanks for your patience as we investigate: https://t.co/AHRZfHtRvq — Ask PlayStation (@AskPlayStation) October 16, 2018True to form for such an all-encompassing outage, the details also list PS Vita, PS3, PS4, and web applications as down. It gives no indication of how quickly the outage will be resolved. Sony's official Twitter account is equally quiet on the timing. As always, it could be a matter of minutes or hours. We'll report back as soon as we receive any more information.Meanwhile, a potentially serious issue involving a message sent to PSN accounts has been resolved. If you were affected, Sony has laid out a few simple steps to get your PS4 in working order.Info from Gamespot.com

It's October again, and that means time for Halloween festivities throughout a whole host of online games. Many announcements have already begun to outline the upcoming festivities, so we're keeping track of all the spooky specials. Many of these will be time-limited events with special rewards, like the Overwatch Halloween Terror event, so check out the active dates and plan your gaming accordingly.DauntlessThe Dauntless Dark Harvest event will kick off in the middle of the month, casting a shadow on the hub city of Ramsgate. It will introduce a new cult known as the Unseen, who worship a Behemoth. Slayers can test their might against a new Behemoth in the Shattered Isles and stores will offer limited-time exclusive items.DatesBegins October 17Destiny 2Destiny is bringing back its annual Festival of the Lost, the Halloween-themed celebration that offers some special masks and exclusive loot. This year, it will include a horde-like PvE mode, a special quest-line to solve a murder, and a unique currency to purchase masks and a special auto rifle called Horror Story. You can also earn new Ephemeral Engrams for exclusive cosmetic items. This will all be accompanied by the return of the Iron Banner event, with some tweaks to make it easier to obtain Powerful gear.DatesBegins October 16FortniteThe entire season is somewhat spooky, with the Darkness Rises theme and skins like the Dire Wolf. Plus the game brought back the popular Skull Trooper skin and made it a little easier to get the Ghost Portal Back Bling. We've gotten a look at some special leaked Halloween cosmetics. Those include skins, back bling, gliders, and pickaxes. No word yet on what creepy world events might be ringing in the seasonal content.DatesUnknownFurther ReadingFortnite Halloween Skins LeakedHearthstoneHearthstone's annual "Hallow's End" celebration starts on October 17 and lasts through Halloween on October 31. Logging in during the event will net you a free golden Witch's Cauldron card, and the Headless Horseman will return for a new Tavern Brawl starring the characters from the Monster Hunt mode. You'll also be able to take part in a dual class Arena mode, and characters will use Hallow's End emotes. Finally, the event will accompany the launch of a new Paladin hero for purchase with a new Witchwood bundle.DatesOctober 17-31Further ReadingOfficial SiteKilling Floor 2Killing Floor 2 has already introduced its Halloween Horrors: Monster Masquerade update. The sprawling update includes a new Monster Ball map, along with Halloween-themed looks and effects for all the zeds and bosses. Plus you can access new weapons and limited-time items to take them all down.DatesAvailable NowFurther ReadingOfficial SiteOverwatchOverwatch's annual Halloween Terror event is once again here. Each year the Halloween Terror event continues the story of Junkenstein's monster, and this one serves up two separate PvE modes: Classic and Endless Night. The event is always a debuts several new Halloween-themed skins, emotes, sprays, and more. It is going on now through October 31, and Blizzard has revealed all the nifty new costumes.DatesOctober 9-31Rocket LeagueRocket League is bringing back its Haunted Hallows event on October 15. You can earn "Candy Corn" currency for playing online matches, which can then be used to cash in for limited cosmetics like decals, toppers, and wheels. You can also gain a Golden Pumpkin that will contain a customization item from the Nitro, Turbo, or Player's choice crates. The event will end on November 5, and your Candy Corn will expire on November 8, so make sure you cash it in fast.DatesOctober 15Further ReadingOfficial SiteSplatoon 2The Splatoon 2 version of a Halloween gathering is a twist on its usual monthly Splatfests, appropriately named Splatoween. It will start October 19 and last through October 21, with players picking their sides in a Turf Wars between Team Trick and Team Treat. Inkopolis will also be updated with Halloween decorations, and the squid kids will get a chance at four special Splatoween headgear that can be kept after the event is over. You'll have to go through the Nintendo Switch News app to get them, however.DatesOctober 19-21Info from Gamespot.com

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's release is here, and you may be wondering if your PC can handle the lift. Activision has released its minimum and recommended specs through its official support site so you can check before dropping in on the action.The specs are almost identical to those of the Black Ops 4 beta, with a few notable differences that actually make it easier to handle. The full game allows for an Intel Core i3 instead of an i5 in the minimum specs, and an i5 instead of an i7 in the recommended specs. So overall, you actually need a slightly less beefy machine to handle the full game. And naturally, you need more hard drive space--80 GB instead of the 25 taken up by the beta.If you're playing on consoles, meanwhile, you'll need to download a sizable day-one patch before you can begin playing. You'll be able to jump into the new battle royale mode, Blackout, once the game is about 30% installed, but it'll be a longer wait before multiplayer and Zombies are ready to go. For more on the game, check out our buying guide for details on the different editions and their associated goodies, as well as our Black Ops 4 early review impressions. Minimum specs:OS: Windows 7 64-Bit or laterCPU: Intel Core i3-4340 or AMD FX-6300 processorRAM: 8GB RAMHDD: 80GB HD spaceVideo: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 2 GB or Radeon HD 7950 2 GBDirectX: Version 11.0 compatible video card or equivalentNetwork: Broadband Internet connectionSound Card: DirectX Compatible Recommended specs:OS: Windows 10 64-bitCPU: Intel Core i5-2500K or AMD Ryzen R5 1600X processorRAM: 12GB RAMHDD: 80GB HD spaceVideo: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4 GB / GTX 1060 6 GB or Radeon R9 390 / AMD RX 580DirectX: Version 11.0 compatible video card or equivalentNetwork: Broadband Internet connectionSound Card: DirectX CompatibleInfo from Gamespot.com

Destiny 2 is bringing back the Iron Banner, starting very soon. The event begins Tuesday, October 16 and lasts until the following Tuesday, October 23. It will be accompanied by the 2.0.4 update, which among other changes will update rewards and bounty objectives as a response to feedback Bungie has received from past Iron Banner events.For starters, it will be much easier to get good rewards out of the Iron Banner. The bounty requirements have been significantly reduced, in some cases even halved, to make them easier to complete. On top of that, you'll get a piece of Powerful Gear for each bounty you complete, to boost your overall Power rating. Finally, Masterwork Cores will be made more available, with Double Valor rewards October 16-19, and Triple Valor from October 19-23. Check out the newly revised Iron Banner bounties below:Lightbearer: Super kills has been reduced to 20 from 25Iron in the Blood: Match completions has been reduced to 15 from 30Shine On: Orbs generated has been reduced to 50 from 100Iron Victory: Match wins has been reduced to 7 from 10To Be Precise: Precision kills has been reduced to 50 from 100All in a Week's Work: Kills has been reduced to 150 from 250This is also all coming alongside this year's Festival of the Lost. It will add a new Haunted Forest section that offers waves of ghouls and demons with a 15-minute time limit. A quest-line will appear near the end of Festival of the Lost to take on the cryptarch Master Ives. A new Legendary auto rifle called Horror Story will be available and the Tower will be adorned with all sorts of spooky decorations. You can also earn special Ephemeral Engrams with new rewards. You'll need to own Forsaken to take part in Festival of the Lost. Check out what else is on the way in the weekly reset.Info from Gamespot.com

Bungie is rolling out Update 2.0.4 for Destiny 2 soon, alongside its seasonal events and a new Iron Banner. In an update, the studio has outlined its release plans so you can schedule your playtime down to the minute. Almost. Eyes up, Guardian. [Update: You can check out all of the Festival of the Lost rewards in our new gallery.]On Tuesday, October 16 the event will begin. First at 7 AM PT / 10 AM ET, Destiny 2 maintenance will begin, but it won't be accompanied by downtime. Companion features might be unavailable, but at this point you should be ready to download the update. At 9:45 AM PT / 12:45 PM ET, anyone who hasn't installed 2.0.4 will be kicked out and taken back to the title screen to prompt them to install it. Then at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET, the maintenance will be over and companion features will be reenabled.Once you've downloaded and installed version 2.0.4 you should be able to dive right into the new events. Those include a new Iron Banner event and the annual Halloween-themed Festival of the Lost. Iron Banner has been revised with easier bounty requirements for more plentiful rewards, and the whole event will overlap with Double and Triple Valor periods to get more Masterwork Cores.Festival of the Lost will also be handing out Powerful gear like candy corns. It offers a Horde-like PvE mode, a special quest-line to solve the murder of an old cryptarch, and a new type of currency (Fragmented Souls) that can be traded in for masks and a very thematic auto rifle called Horror Story. You can also earn Ephemeral Engrams with their own new rewards.Bungie also recently announced plans to tweak the drop rates so you get duplicate Exotics less often. For some help finding gear in the meantime, check out where to find Xur and what he has in stock.Info from Gamespot.com

Blizzard has announced a new round of balance changes for Hearthstone, and this one includes a major nerf to one of the Mage's classic mainstays. Two other changes hit cards that make for powerful combos and have made for strong archtypes of their own, but the biggest change by far is to one of the oldest cards in the entire game.Mana Wyrm has been around since the beginning. It's a Mage card from the Classic set, and its combination of high health for the Mana cost and a strong synergistic ability with spells has long made it an auto-include for all sorts of Mage decks--from aggressive ones that snowball its attack power to tempo decks that use it to pick off early threats efficiently. That will all be changing soon. The card cost is being changed from 1 Mana to 2, effectively doubling its investment cost and cutting it off as a decisive turn-one play."Over time, we've been moving away from powerful, early-game 1-drops like Mana Wyrm," reads the designer notes. "It can often feel like the outcome of a game is decided by whether Mana Wyrm was played on turn one, and if it could be removed quickly by an opponent. Mana Wyrm has also steered us away from making powerful low-cost Mage spells. We'd like Mana Wyrm to remain an option for decks it synergizes with, while preventing it from being a huge turn one threat."At (2) mana, it will be easier to deal with Mana Wyrm the turn it's played, and it will be harder to buff it with cheap spells early in the match. We still expect it to remain an option in decks that have a heavy focus on cheap spells, but it should be a less appealing option in decks that aren't built with that focus in mind."The other two announced balance changes are to cards that have been added in later sets, which means that unlike Mana Wyrm they'll both eventually cycle out of Standard play. The Mana Wyrm change, by comparison, is here to stay.The first comes to Giggling Inventor, a powerful Taunt card that has been eyed for a nerf since it debuted with the latest expansion. Its Mana cost will go to 7 Mana up from 5. The tipping point appears to be that Giggling Inventor has been far too powerful in Quest Rogue decks, which makes all minions 4/4 as the reward for completing the Quest."We think it's important to take risks when making powerful cards, especially when it comes to neutral taunts, given the role they can play in encouraging minion interactions and making games more interesting. However, Giggling Inventor has stepped beyond its intended role, and we don't feel that it should be as effective as it currently is," the notes read. "At (7) mana, we expect Giggling Inventor will find its way into fewer decks in general--and be much less effective in Quest Rogue--while remaining situationally playable within specific deck archetypes, such as Evolve Shaman."Finally, the Druid Legendary card Aviana will have its cost increased to 10 Mana from the current 9. This appears aimed at one very specific interaction: Aviana into Kun the Forgotten King. Since Aviana makes all minions cost 1, and Kun can restore all your Mana crystals, this combo allowed Druids to play a handful of huge minions in a single turn. While Blizzard notes it's still technically possible to pull this off with a Coin or Innervate, it will be less consistent. Plus, it notes, the cost change means the new card Juicy Psychmelon won't draw both parts of this powerful combo at once.All of these balance changes are planned to be implemented on October 18.Info from Gamespot.com

You can tell a game has hit it big when it starts appearing on the talk show circuit. Fortnite has made a handful of appearances outside the traditional gaming media and now hit once again with an extended spot on Ellen. In it, host Ellen DeGeneres explained following a rabbit hole from the Orange Justice dance to Fortnite to the notable streamer, Ninja.Ninja made an appearance on the show, ostensibly to explain how to play and show Ellen the ins and outs. The result is a lot like fellow talk show host Conan O'Brien's ongoing Clueless Gamer, with the host cracking jokes at her own expense against the backdrop of playing a game.Those seeking advice on how to play Fortnite like Ninja will have to look elsewhere, though, as the lesson only touches on the barest essentials of the game. Ellen comedically bumbles her way through very slowly dropping into position, finding and promptly wasting her one firearm, and ultimately getting killed. Not quite enough to get rich streaming.For actual tips on Fortnite, check out our challenges guide to get the most out of your Battle Pass. This season the Darkness Rises theme brings all sorts of new skins and cosmetics like the Dire Wolf. It also brought a destructive new vehicle and it appears that more Halloween themed cosmetics are on the way.Disclosure: CBS is GameSpot's parent company.Info from Gamespot.com

Epic Games has filed suit against two game streamers for posting videos of cheats in Fortnite and directing users to purchase those cheat tools. Brandon Lucas, who goes by "Golden Modz," is being sued for violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, breach of contract, and "tortious interference." Colton Conter ("Excentric") who often appears with Lucas in his streams, was also named in the suit.Engadget reports that Epic is requesting that Lucas and Conter earnings be disgorged--giving Epic an extra share of their profits since they were obtained unjustly--along with standard damages and court costs. It has also requested that YouTube pull several videos. The studio isn't exactly hurting for money, so the tough legal stance appears aimed primarily at sending a message to cheaters.Lucas, for his part, has said that other streamers were participating in similar behavior, and so he didn't think of his videos as problematic.Cheating has been a pervasive problem for Fortnite. On top of the usual rationale of protecting the sanctity of its game, Epic has reason to be concerned about phishing schemes from sites claiming to give away cheats-enabled versions. The studio is aiming to beef up its anti-cheat mechanisms in the game itself, but cutting off the source by discouraging streamers from promoting cheats could help mitigate the need for those later steps.For help making progress the old fashioned way, check out our challenges guide. That will help you earn progress toward your Battle Pass to earn this season's cosmetic items. Or for some lighter entertainment, watch daytime talk show host Ellen playing Fortnite with Ninja.Info from Gamespot.com

Red Dead Redemption 2 is big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas. Following an apparent look at the game size for PS4 Pro, the full file size on Xbox One has been revealed as well. The "Additional Information" section on the Microsoft Store lists its approximate size at 88.57 GB.Weighing in at nearly 90 gigs puts it close to the leak from the PS4 Pro Bundle, which suggested it would be 105 GB. It's possible that the disparity can be chalked up to the Pro version downloading some extra textures, and that it would be similarly sized on Xbox One X.Red Dead Redemption 2 appears to be mind-boggling in its level of detail, though. Its weapon customization alone lets you personalize each of the 50 weapons with a variety of barrels, grips, sights, and scopes, all with metals, woods, varnishes, and engravings. It has 19 realistically rendered horse breeds, fishing, and more.Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser said the full campaign will last about 65 hours, which much more to do in the open world. That includes 2,700 actors performing 2,000 pages of script with another 1,200 doing motion-capture work. This all comes at a price, though, as developers had to put in some 100-hour work weeks. It takes influences from several recent Rockstar games like GTA5, Max Payne, and even Bully.Red Dead Redemption 2 is set to release on October 26 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The multiplayer mode, Red Dead Online, will follow in November.Info from Gamespot.com

Destiny 2 may be preparing to pay a visit to a familiar location. A bug appears to show a loading screen for Oryx's Dreadnaught, which hasn't been playable since The Taken King expansion from the first Destiny.As spotted on the Destiny subreddit, the new Dreadnaught doesn't appear to be a mixed-up asset or wild mistake, since the ship itself has an updated look. This seems to suggest that players will be going back to Oryx's ship at some point. It could be part of the Year 2 annual pass. The main campaign of Destiny 2 implied the Dreadnaught could be returning. Spoilers follow.The ball of light that spreads across the galaxy at the end of Destiny 2 has hit locations that have returned in subsequent DLC, in order of their release. It hit Mercury, then Mars, then the Reef--which were showcased in Curse of Osiris, Warmind, and Forsaken, respectively. The Dreadnaught came just after the Reef, which suggests it's next. The mystery remains as to how it will return, but we may hear more when the Black Armory releases in December for annual pass holders. We know Bungie has a whole year of content planned ahead.Destiny 2 just flung open the doors of Forsaken to all players without purchasing last year's content, so it's much cheaper to get into now than it once was. This week you can participate in a newly revised Iron Banner event, and the Halloween-themed Festival of the Lost kicks off as well.Info from Gamespot.com