Ahead of the full game's release date in November, Bethesda will host a Fallout 76 beta later this month. The first leg of this will begin on October 23 for Xbox One, but some fans will have a chance to try it out even sooner than that. Bethesda has announced that before the beta launches, some Xbox Insiders will be able to take part in a limited stress test starting this weekend to help the studio prepare for the beta launch.Participants for the stress test will be chosen from a pool of players who have both pre-ordered Fallout 76 for Xbox One, and who are also members of the Xbox Insider program. Fulfilling those two criteria doesn't guarantee you a spot, but it does put you in the running. Starting on Saturday, October 13, you can check if you've been given access to the stress test by looking at the Insider Content tab of the Xbox Insider program.This all comes with a few caveats. This is for North American players only, and you'll need to be an Xbox Live Gold member as well since it's an online game. Participants will be under an NDA, and your progress in the stress test won't be saved. The beta version set to launch later this month is an entirely separate application. You also can't earn any Achievements.If those sound like deal-breakers, and you've pre-ordered the game anyway, you may be better off waiting for the full beta. It will start on October 23 on Xbox One and follow on PC and PS4 a week later on October 30. Even if you've pre-ordered the game, though, you may not necessarily get into the test the moment it starts. Bethesda is planning to send invites out in waves, with a relatively small number invited to begin. You can read more details about how and when it will roll out in our beta guide.The Xbox Insider program is a free option for Xbox One owners that gets you into some early software tests for upcoming firmware, to offer feedback. You can find more instructions through the official site.Info from Gamespot.com

Halloween is approaching, and despite a previous leak of some themed cosmetics, it appears Fortnite has even more up its sleeve. While the big recent skin news involved the return of the Skull Trooper outfit, the latest game update, v6.02, has been datamined and revealed another round of skins, back bling, gliders, and pickaxes.Fortnite Intel reports on the new cosmetics. The new skins include the pumpkin-spicy Jack Gourdon and Hollowhead, plague doctors Plague and Scourge, Bullseye, and Skull Ranger. New pickaxes include the Skull Sickle, Heralds Wand, and Carver. Those are joined by the Crypt Cruiser, Mouldering Cloak, Arcanum, Dismal Cape, and Lamplight. New emotes appear to include Sprinkler, Electro Swing, Look At This, and Head Bang.Of course, the datamined leak doesn't give much indication of when we can expect to see these new cosmetics making the rounds. They're Halloween-themed, which narrows it down to this month, but other than that they could hit anytime.The 6.02 update also added the limited-time Disco Domination mode, a Quad rocket launcher, and various bug fixes and balance tweaks. As noted above, it also brought back the Skull Trooper, but requires a challenge completion to unlock its associated back bling.In addition to the other frightful skins previously leaked, the whole season has a dark and foreboding tone to it. "Darkness Rises" is the season's theme, as an island floats above the game map powered by our favorite mysterious cube, Kevin. Plus the new Season 6 skins include plenty of Halloween merriment like the Dire Wolf, which makes you more and more werewolf-like as you level it up.For more on other Halloween happenings in video games, check out our round-up of the best Halloween events this year.Info from Gamespot.com

Fortnite: Battle Royale has been available on Android for some time now, but it was not freely available for download to everyone. That's now changed, as Epic has released the game on Android without the need for an invite. The beta had previously been invite-only, but as of today you can download it to any Android device for free, without waiting. Unlike most Android games, Epic isn't offering Fortnite through the Google Play store, but instead on its official site. Epic accompanied the announcement with recommended system specs for your Android device to get the optimal experience. You can check the list of supported devices to make sure yours fits the bill. Here's how to download it.OS: Recommended Android 8.0 or higher, 64 bitRAM: Recommended 4GB or higherGPU: Adreno 530 or higher, Mali-G71 MP20, Mali-G72 MP12 or higherPlugging the official site is important, since Epic circumvented the Google Play store to release the application directly to users. That allows the studio to keep more of its profits, but has run the risk of security problems. Avoiding the safety of a known and trusted store also raises the risk of unscrupulous people confusing potential players. Most recently, dubious apps claiming to offer free V-bucks or cheats have been connected to phishing schemes. For obvious reasons, make sure to install through the official site.No invite needed - download the Fortnite Beta now on any compatible Android device 📱 Time to squad up: https://t.co/lH95t8qkwd pic.twitter.com/9UZNG7oFXd — Fortnite (@FortniteGame) October 11, 2018Fortnite is in the middle of Season 6, dubbed Darkness Rises, with lots of spooky cosmetic items to mark the occasion. More Halloween skins appear to be on the way as well. For help unlocking all of the loot, be sure to check out our challenge guide. And if you want to make some Halloween merriment outside of Fortnite, read all about some other ongoing video game Halloween events to get into the spirit.Info from Gamespot.com

Scarlett Johansson appears to be making a healthy amount for her upcoming solo Black Widow film. The star is reportedly set to earn $15 million, which would be equal the payouts for Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth in both Avengers: Infinity War and their own starring roles movies, Captain America: Civil War and Thor: Ragnarok.The Hollywood Reporter reports that most actors in the Marvel cinematic universe have made much less for their initial standalone movies. Robert Downey Jr. made just $500,000 for the first Iron Man, while Chadwick Boseman is said to have pulled down $2 million for the first Black Panther. Brie Larson is making $5 million for the upcoming Captain Marvel, with a reported seven-picture deal (which Larson disputes). Then again, this won't be Johansson's first time around as Black Widow, as the character has been a mainstay in Marvel's team-up films for years.The news comes as Hollywood's actresses are applying more pressure on studios to pay them the same as their male counterparts. Some actors like Benedict Cumberbatch have publicly said they'll refuse roles that do not give equal pay to his female counterparts in solidarity.A spokesperson for Marvel told THR, "Marvel Studios disputes the accuracy of these numbers, and as a matter of policy, we never publicly disclose salaries or deal terms." Black Widow will be directed by Cate Shortland (Lore). She was the ultimate pick after interviewing a list of more than 70 potential picks to direct. A release date hasn't been announced. Black Widow will next appear in 2019's Avengers 4, which will presumably resolve the plot threads left by Infinity War.Info from Gamespot.com

The Xbox One October update is rolling out today, offering a few new bells and whistles for the Microsoft console. The features in this update allow you to use more voice interactions, more easily watch HDR movies with streaming services, and personalize your Avatar.The Xbox Skill feature lets you interact with your Xbox using Alexa or Cortana devices, with a greater degree of precision than the previous Kinect voice commands. As an example, Microsoft says you can tell Alexa to "launch Forza Horizon 4" and in response the Xbox One will start up, sign you in, and launch the game, all without additional commands needed. Other commands include starting Mixer broadcasts, capturing screenshots, and adjusting the volume. You'll need to download the Xbox Skill in the respective stores to get started.To promote the new functionality, Amazon will be offering a bundle that includes an Amazon Echo Dot with new Xbox One S or Xbox One X purchases. That deal is coming soon, but supplies will be limited.The newly revised Avatars are available for all users today as well. These have a focus on inclusiveness, with a greater range of body types, more accessories, and the ability to dress in any kind of clothing you'd like. You'll see the new Avatars on your own profile, in the activity feed and Gamerscore leaderboard, and more. You can use a Photobooth to take a picture of your Avatar to use as your profile image. Plus, if you want to stick with your original Avatar, that option is available too.The update also adds Dolby Vision HDR streaming across supported televisions. For now it supports Netflix only, but Dolby Vision will expand to more apps in the coming months. You can enable it through the Settings menu. Finally the Narrator has added Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Swedish, Dutch, and Australian English.Info from Gamespot.com

Assassin's Creed Odyssey has received an update aimed at squashing some bugs and issuing minor (but unspecified) quality-of-life features. The 1.0.3 update is now available, and the patch notes are relatively vague. Among its features are "quality-of-life and usability improvement" and "various 'game breaking' issues that could happen in specific conditions." It also says it improves performance and stability.The patch notes end with a note promising more info. "Stay tuned for additional information concerning the changes included in 1.0.3," it says. GameSpot has contacted Ubisoft for more detail and will update if more information becomes available.Ubisoft is likely happy with the success of Odyssey so far. Though it didn't give specific sales data, it announced it had the best launch week for any game in the franchise on the current generation of consoles. That would include Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (2013), as well as all the follow-ups including Assassin's Creed Unity (2014), Assassin's Creed Syndicate (2015), and Assassin's Creed Origins (2017). That number does include revenue from microtransactions, which could mean other games outsold it on a per-unit basis, but Odyssey generated more money altogether.Odyssey has gotten extra attention from an emerging market as well, as Google is using it as a test subject for its Project Stream technology. Players selected for the limited test can play it unlimited through their Chrome browser until January of next year, and are given $10 in in-game currency to purchase any microtransactions. As a trade-off, though, players lose all progress after the end-date.If you're just getting started in Assassin's Creed Odyssey, check out our story primer and tips for beginners. If you've gotten a few more Grecian hours under your belt, you may be ready to take on some mythological beasts or get some legendary armor sets.Info 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

Red Dead Redemption 2 looks to be a shockingly precise cowboy simulator, right down to some survivalist mechanics like hunting and dressing appropriately. All a real frontiersman needs is a horse and a trusty rifle, and Rockstar has taken the wraps off of your weapon selection in the upcoming game.According to the official site, RDR2 has more than 50 weapons, each with customization options and ammo types to help determine stats like accuracy, range, and damage. Weapons will level up the more you use them, and they'll need to be kept oiled and cleaned to stave off degradation. You can customize with barrels, grips, sights, and scopes for performance, along with visual flourishes like selecting your metals, woods, varnishes, and engravings.The visual elements like metals and engravings can be customizable per component of your gun, and you can pick a different engraving on your trigger guard, barrel, and frame for a truly unique look. Ammo types like split point, high velocity, and explosive can be used in a pinch for tougher enemies. A good holster will help prevent weapon degredation, while off-hand holsters let you dual wield your weapons. Finally, your horse's saddle will store your weapons, so you'll have to select which weapons to take on your person when you tie up your horse.Rockstar cites a handful of examples of how various weapons can deal with different situations. The Bolt-Action Rifle is best for long-range combat against multiple targets, while the Pump-Action Shotgun is best suited for close combat against hearty wild beasts. A Double-Action Revolver works well if shooting from horseback, while a Sawed-Off Shotgun is better if you're limited to one hand while the other carries a lantern. The Varmint Rifle is best for small game since it will do the least damage to their skin and meat. And the Springfield Rifle is ideal for one-on-one confrontations at mid-range. And those are just a few of the examples.The new Dead-Eye system helps you make the most out of every shot, and progresses to become more powerful over the course of the game. It will let you auto-select targets, manually place multiple shots on the same enemy, fire in slow motion, or pinpoint weak spots on enemies.Red Dead Redemption 2 hits on October 26. Check out some of the most surprising details we know about so far while we wait to explore the Old West.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.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

We may see some form of Diablo announcement at BlizzCon this year, but a set of merchandise with a new name isn't an accidental leak, according to the studio. A set of new items listed on the Blizzard Gear Store raised eyebrows with a conspicuous subtitle: "Diablo Reign of Terror." However, Blizzard has told GameSpot these are not related to any new content being prepared for the show.The items include a poster and a men's and women's T-shirt, all showing the frightful visage of the series namesake himself. That raised suspicions that "Reign of Terror" could be the subtitle of a new game or expansion, especially given that Diablo hasn't had either since Reaper of Souls in 2014. But not so, says Blizzard."These are names and copy used for some of the new products available at BlizzCon this year, and not direct references to content at the show," a spokesperson told GameSpot.We first began expecting to see a Diablo announcement due to Blizzard's own schedule for BlizzCon 2018. The "Diablo: What's Next" panel follows first after the main stage keynote. The existence of a "What's Next" panel itself isn't telling--just about every ongoing Blizzard game gets one--but coming just after the main stage presentation is usually reserved for the biggest announcement of the event. Diablo also has a second planned panel about the world of Diablo, scheduled for the following day.Blizzard has previously indicated it has multiple Diablo projects in the works. We know about one of them, since Diablo 3 was announced for Nintendo Switch, but the phrasing definitely implied more than one is in development. "Some of them are going to take longer than others, but we may have some things to show you later this year," said community manager Brandy Camel.BlizzCon 2018 kicks off on Friday, November 2.Info from Gamespot.com

The long legal drama between Oculus and ZeniMax appears to be continuing, but id designer John Carmack--who was a central figure in the dispute--says his personal legal battles are over. In a tweet, Carmack said that he and ZeniMax have released all claims against each other.It's notable that Carmack draws a very careful distinction in his statement, though. He pointed out that his personal legal disputes have been satisfied, but said that an appeal for Oculus is still moving forward. That indicates that Oculus is still fighting against the award given to ZeniMax for copyright infringement--even after it had been slashed from $500 million to $250 million.My personal legal disputes are over -- Zenimax has fully satisfied their obligations to me from the purchase of Id Software, and we have released all claims against each other. (The appeal for Oculus still goes forward) — John Carmack (@ID_AA_Carmack) October 11, 2018ZeniMax alleged that Carmack had taken work developed while he was at id Software--owned by ZeniMax--and taken it to Oculus for the creation of the Oculus Rift. A $500 million settlement was awarded, which was later halved when a judge found that the infringement was too small to justify such a large reward. Oculus is now continuing its appeal, presumably to reduce the damages further or eliminate them altogether.Meanwhile, ZeniMax also filed suit last year against Samsung VR. In that suit, the company that Carmack had worked with another former ZeniMax employee, Matt Hooper, to develop a plan for mobile VR. According to the suit, Oculus then took that pitch to Samsung, which makes that company liable too. ZeniMax argues that Samsung must have been aware of the litigation with Oculus, but continued to develop Gear VR regardless of the legal risk.Info from Gamespot.com

Battle royale style games took off in popularity last year thanks to PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and reached new heights with Fortnite. Now, the Call of Duty franchise has hopped onto the fray with Black Ops 4's new Blackout mode. If you haven't experienced battle royale for yourself, but plan on hopping into Black Ops 4, this is for you. We'll run through some of the basics of the mode and cover the ways in which Call of Duty puts its own spin on it.Battle Royale 101First off, you can enter matches either as a lone wolf (solo), with a partner (duos), or a team of four (quads); you'll be matched with up to 100 players who choose the same group size option. Every player gets flown over the map in the same trajectory--visualized when you pull up the map--and it's up to you when and where to drop. Exiting the helicopter has you deploying your wingsuit, and you can glide horizontally to go further out or look straight down to drop faster.The overall goal is to be the last player or team standing since everyone has one life, which makes combat encounters much more tense and risky compared to traditional Call of Duty multiplayer. Now more than ever, you should be aware of your surroundings; that or have a teammate watch your back. Also keep in mind that you can revive squadmates if they fall, but be sure to do so before they bleed out or take more damage from enemies.Another basic ingredient of battle royale is the impending pressure of a deadly circle closing in on the battlefield. Every match has the circle contracting on a random area of the map, and it gets smaller as the match goes on to force remaining players into combat. If you get caught outside the circle, you'll take damage until you can get into the safe zone.A Huge Map To TraverseBlackout's map is much larger than any previous Call of Duty map since it has to accommodate 100 players. However with size of the map, it also induces a slower pace; so expect plenty of downtime between encounters. This change of pace may take a while for Call of Duty veterans to adjust to, but it also feeds into the high-stakes nature of combat in battle royale games since one small mistake can cost you an entire match.There are 14 concentrated areas in the Blackout map, many of which pay homage to past Black Ops maps. For example, Nuketown Island, Estate, and Array will look and feel similar to the multiplayer maps they're named after. The in-between of these main locations is interspersed with smaller towns and groups of buildings that can have valuable loot. But vast forestry and open fields make up most of the terrain, so be on-guard when traversing between locations as firefights may break out at any moment.The full map in Blackout mode.Luckily, vehicles litter the map. An ATV doesn't provide much protection but it can get up to two players around from point A to point B fairly quickly. The cargo truck fits up to five players and doesn't leave the squad as vulnerable, but it moves pretty slow. Getting through the river that splits the middle of the map is quite easy with a zodiac boat, which holds up to four players. And unlike most battle royales, Blackout features air transportation via the helicopter that has five seats total. That's not the only means of air travel, though; you can deploy your wingsuit by sprinting and jumping off a building and holding the jump button.Loot Your LoadoutYou start each match without anything in your inventory and must loot all your equipment--a stark contrast to Call of Duty's tradition of letting players customize their loadouts. You're allowed to carry two weapons and have to scavenge for the proper ammo type for each as well. The following is a list of all the weapons available to loot in Blackout:Pistols: Strife, MozuSMGs: SAUG-9mm, MX9, GKS, Spitfire, CorditeShotguns: MOG 12, SG12Assault Rifles: KN-57, ICR-7, VAPR-XKG, Maddox RFB, Rampart 17Tactical Rifles: Auger DMR, Swordfish, ABR 223, Essex Model 07Sniper Rifles: Koshka, Paladin HB50LMGs: TitanExplosives: War Machine, Hellion SalvoZombie Weapons: Ray Gun, Galil, MP-40, ZweihanderAttachments are crucial for getting the most out of your weapons. A reflect sight or 4x scope will come in clutch for nailing precise shots with ADS, and a grip or stock will help control your recoil, but you need to scavenge for those items and get them onto your gun. Zombie weapons add a twist to combat, which can be found in zombie supply stashes after killing AI-controlled zombie hordes at certain locations in the map, like the Asylum. Even the sillier items find their way into Blackout, like the Ray Gun, Monkey Bomb, Acid Bomb, and RC Car (though it doesn't explode). Look out for blue beacons that shine in the sky as this indicates stash locations where you may get your hands on these rare items.Inventory management in Blackout mode.You'll also have to loot armor in Blackout; there are three levels and each one provides better protection (level 3 armor is the only one that'll protect from headshots). Backpacks open up five additional item slots, which comes in handy later in a match as you loot more useful equipment. And it goes without saying that stocking up on health items is important, too; first aid and med kits heal 25 and 50 health, respectively. Trauma kits will fully heal you and tack on an additional 50 health temporarily.Be on the lookout for supply crates that randomly drop onto the map throughout the match; you're likely to find high-level loot, but creates a hotspot for preying enemies.The Perks Of Call Of DutyIn another interesting twist, Blackout's take on battle royale also brings in the familiar Perks system, which act as consumable items found across the map. Each perk has a specific effect, usage limit, and duration. While some may be more useful than others, it's important to know what your equipped perk does as it can make the difference between life and death, especially in their most effective situations. The following is a perk list and what they do:Awareness: Louder enemy footsteps. (Usage: 2, Duration: 2 mins)Brawler: Increases melee damage, gain 50 health for each melee attack landed. (Usage: 1, Duration: 4 mins)Consumer: Health and consumable items activate 50% faster. (Usage: 1, Duration: 5 mins)Dead Silence: Silent movement and less noise when opening stashes. (Usage: 2, Duration: 4 mins)Engineer: Reveal all nearby vehicles and enemy equipment. (Usage: 2, Duration: 4 mins)Iron Lungs: Steady aim with scoped weapons and underwater breathing time increased. (Usage: 2, Duration: 5 mins)Medic: Health items and team revives replenish more health and with faster activation. (Usage: 2, Duration: 4 mins)Mobility: Movement and weapon switch is faster, fire and use items while sprinting, move fast while reloading. Fall damage negated. (Usage: 2, Duration: 5 mins)Looter: Reveals nearby loot and stashes. (Usage: 3, Duration: 2 mins)Outlander: Take less damage and move faster when outside safe zone. (Usage: 2, Duration: 3 mins)Reinforced: Reduce explosion and fire damage. Reduce effectiveness of razor wire, flashbangs, and concussion grenades. (Usage: 3, Duration: 4 mins)Skulker: Faster crouch and prone movement. (Usage: 3, Duration: 3 mins)Stimulant: Increase health cap by 100. (Usage: 2, Duration 3 mins)Squad Link: Teammates visible through walls. (Usage: 2, Duration: 2 mins)Paranoia: Audio cues for when you're targeted by an enemy via ADS. (Usage: 2, Duration: 4 mins)Black Ops 3 introduced Specialists, unique characters that provided a variety of ways to play the game with their own attributes and abilities--akin to a hero shooter. While you can choose to play as a certain Specialist in Blackout, the equipment that was once tied to them are now items found in the field. Those abilities--such as the razor wire, mesh mines, and grappling hook--are hard to find, but they can give you a significant advantage when used in the right situation.TipsThose are the basics when it comes to playing Call of Duty Black Ops 4's Blackout mode. Battle royale veterans may know how the rules work, but the equipment system and map are still things that need to be experimented with and explored on your own. The most important thing to do is to play more and more matches to get a feel for how Call of Duty's take on battle royale flows. And now that you know what you're getting into, take the next step and check out our Blackout beginner's guide.For a more comparative look, see how Blackout, Fortnite, and PUBG differ from one another. We've spent a lot of time with the game and working to reach a verdict on it, but check out our Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 early review impressions in the mean time.Info from Gamespot.com

Fallout 76 will no doubt be a big change of pace for the series upon its November 14 release on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Trading out the traditional single-player experience for a shared-world multiplayer survival game, the upcoming prequel sets itself apart from its predecessors in a very clear way. Despite the larger scope and other players to interact with, Bethesda's online game still focuses on offering a rich and detailed world to explore, with its fair share of strange events and oddities to uncover, but there's no doubt that world-building has taken a backseat in the process.There was a lot to unpack after our hands-on time with the game at a recent event, so we spent some time talking with Bethesda Softworks' VP of Marketing Pete Hines about the game's ongoing development. During this chat, we learned more about Fallout 76's previous life as a potential multiplayer mode for Fallout 4, the initial worries the developers had in switching things up, and how the game will continue to evolve long after its release.Editor's note: This interview has been edited for clarity and readability.The original concept of Fallout 76 was based on the planned multiplayer mode for Fallout 4. Can you talk about what that original idea was, and how it evolved into what we have now?Hines: Yeah, the original idea for 76 was born out of revisiting the concept that we get asked about often, which is multiplayer or co-op in our games. They ask every single time we release a game. Looking into that for Fallout 4, we decided that we had some ideas but it wouldn't really work for what we're doing for that game. It had to be its own separate game and its own separate thing. From a high level, it's very much what you guys got to play today [in other games], you can play with others, but you're in a shared Fallout world with quests, a character system, and a number of survival aspects.We have done some things differently, like there's no NPCs in the game and you're not having dialogue with a lot of different characters. But instead of that, you're doing a lot more world exploration and emergent gameplay, finding notes and hollow-tapes from people who were in the world who have disappeared, and trying to figure out what was going on before and what they were like. But deep down, it's still the same basic idea of a shared Fallout experience and how that works with others thrown in the mix.To transform an offline, single-player experience into an online game, you'd inevitably have to alter or strip down some of its more familiar aspects. Was that something the developers had some worries about in the early goings of this game?Yeah, absolutely. We knew going in, this is not just gonna be Fallout 4 with multiplayer. It's inherently going to have to look and feel different in order to be the type of experience that works with many different players together. We're not doing an MMO, not just doing a last-man-standing game--it's still an RPG. It has elements of those kinds of things, but yeah, there's inherent things that are different--but there's also a lot of things that look and feel very familiar.For instance, the tone, the vibe, look, and feel of the world can go a long way to give you a sense of familiarity to sort of wrap your head around things. It's still a Fallout world, even though these things are different. But yeah, this is a really scary and different thing to be a part of. We are fully aware of that. We are making changes and making a different kind of game, but it's one that we are excited to try and see what it can turn into.There is a stronger sense of isolation when you're alone since there are no NPCs to meet. But that all changes when you meet other players. Do you feel that the Fallout experience is heightened when you're playing with others?Absolutely. Look, the only way that anybody has previously shared their experiences with Fallout was essentially water cooler talk. Right? Coming in the next day to say, "Here's what I did and then I did this, and then I had this quest and fought these super mutants and I thought I was gonna die." You're able to enhance those experiences when you're playing with others. We're all experiencing this together, and you've never been in a Fallout game and been able to yell to a friend and actually have them help you.Those kinds of things are what Fallout 76 brings that the other ones simply couldn't do. A shared, in the moment experience. You can't get it any other way, and it's why we wanted to try it out. Yes, it's different. Yes, it's a departure, and it's new and scary. But it's an opportunity to have people share experiences that they've always wanted but have never been able to before.Another thing that's interesting about 76 is that it's the earliest Fallout game in the series. Despite this, we're still seeing some familiar factions and enemies, which may conflict with what people already expect. Did you feel that a more loose approach with the timeline had to be taken in order to keep those familiar aspects of the game intact?I don't know if I would say loose, but I would say that our developers take things like lore and canon seriously, and if they're going to do something they're going to make sure that there's a real reason for it. We have proven with the Elder Scrolls games, that in places where some things happened one way, that we're willing to say, "Well lots of people will say things happened one way," and the opposite or something else could entirely be true. So there's no question that we've gone back to change things to fit what developers have wanted to do, and not be holden to something that somebody wrote 20 years ago.But having said that, we don't take it lightly to just go change whatever we want. There has to be a thought process; what is the rationale? Why would this logically work in this time? Why would there be super mutants, or the brotherhood of steel? How does that all fit and hold together? There's absolutely reasons and explanations in Fallout 76 for how all that ties together.You're also taking a bit of a different approach with the PC version, as it'll be exclusive to Bethesda.net. Can you elaborate on why the game won't be on Steam?Mostly because of the kind of game it is. It's an online, always-on game, and is a service. That was also based on our experiences with other online games as well. We felt that having a direct relationship with our customers was super important to us. And so doing it through Bethesda.net exclusively allows us to have that one-to-one relationship with customers, that quite honestly you don't always have when you go through another third party where they might own the relationship with the customer in terms of being able to email them or to reach out directly and contact them.So it simplifies things a little and we believe it's going to help us deal with some issues and challenges that we've seen in the past. And again, it's a new experience, like the game itself is and we're going to see how it goes and how it works and what benefits it allows us to have in making sure that our customers have the best experience possible.Mods have certainly taken off on Bethesda.net as well, which was particularly successful with the Creation Club integration in Fallout 4. Can you talk about how mods will play into Fallout 76, and how exactly they'll work within the online space?I don't foresee a universe in which we allow players to come in [to Fallout 76's public servers] with their own unique and different mods. If you want to run mods, they'll have to be done on a private server. You'll be deciding what sort of mods you're including and running, and everyone playing on that server is playing with those mods. Those are a ways off, though. I imagine it's going to be at least a year before we hit that point because it's going to be a lot of work. But mods and private servers are definitely coming....our developers take things like lore and canon seriously, and if they're going to do something they're going to make sure that there's a real reason for it.Fallout 76 was revealed fairly recently, and we're now already close to its release. It does however seem like the game struggles a bit with framerate and some other issues--which was due to it being an older build according to other devs we spoke with. Can you talk about some of the challenges that come from keeping the game so secret, while still prepping for its impending release?Yeah, I mean honestly, we just got to art lock [all assets and environmental details set] a week or two ago. And until you get to art lock, you really can't get deep into game optimization. We've done optimization paths on some parts of the world, but not all just yet. But the bigger thing for us was that we had tried to do earlier, we had different parts of the world that were in different places. And with games like ours, we tend to want to say, "Look, just go wherever you want and do whatever you want," that's what's fun about these games.Even though we know that the whole game wasn't optimized, and we know that there's parts of the game we haven't gotten to yet, they were close enough that we were comfortable with letting people get their hands on it. And we felt that experience was really important. That folks, like yourself, not be tied to us and saying, "Well here's the handful of locations you go to." Because that's not what's fun about our games. It's about going, "I wonder what's that way? I'm gonna go that way and see what's that way and see what's over there." "Well I'm going this way. I'll see you later." That's always the experience that we wanted folks to be able to have.As you said earlier, Fallout is really about your own personal experiences with the game. But now you can share it with others online. Do you have a favorite moment from your experiences with Fallout 76, that best sums up how you feel about it?Yeah, I don't have one particular moment that I have that's better than all the others. A lot of it has just been finding surprises and exploring some random cabin that I found on a hill. And then for whatever reason looking inside of a dog house and noticing the side of the dog house had all of these complicated math formulas written on the side, and the back of it had a small periodic table. I'd be thinking to myself, "What was going on here? Who did this?" One of the few times I've played and grouped up with folks, we found one of the amusement parks and one of the carnival games was whack-a-mole.And you can find those things. They're called Commie Bashers cause it was whack the commies on the head instead of the moles, and we realized they were weapons and we all equipped Commie Bashers as a melee weapon and just cleared out the mutant park. It was completely ridiculous and silly, but it was just sort of fun being able to play with others and have a shared experience like that, that was just very different. Of course, I could have seen that on my own, but it wouldn't have been as memorable as with the group. I think folks are really going to enjoy exploring and looking into all the different places where designers have put thought into who was in this world, and what they were doing and what they were leaving behind. There will be a lot of secrets and Easter eggs for people to find. Info from Gamespot.com

Iron Fist has been cancelled by Netflix. It's the first of the streaming giant's Marvel shows to get the chop, only a few weeks after Season 2 premiered on the service.The news of Iron Fist's cancellation was reported by Deadline, which was given a joint statement by Netlix and Marvel Television. "Marvel's Iron Fist will not return for a third season on Netflix," the statement said. "Everyone at Marvel Television and Netflix is proud of the series and grateful for all of the hard work from our incredible cast, crew, and showrunners. We're thankful to the fans who have watched these two seasons, and for the partnership we've shared on this series. While the series on Netflix has ended, the immortal Iron Fist will live on."Iron Fist was one of four initial Marvel shows that were produced by Netflix. But while Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage were well received by critics and fans, the first season of Iron Fist, which was released in March 2017, was met with mostly negative reviews. A new showrunner was brought in for Season 2, and most reviews agreed that it was an improvement over the first season. However, it has not been enough to save the show.Finn Jones, who starred as Danny Rand (aka Iron Fist), took to Instagram to respond to the cancellation. He wrote: "With every end is a new beginning. I have an enormous amount of love and respect for everyone involved with the last two seasons of this show. Defending the greatest city in the world amongst the most talented and warmest people has been a privilege and a joy. Blessed to have taken this journey and grateful for the ongoing support."The end of Iron Fist on Netflix isn't necessarily the last we'll see of the character however. The other three original Marvel shows are still continuing--and a second season of The Punisher is due next year--so it's possible that Jones might appear again in another Netflix series.In addition, Disney is launching its own streaming platform next year, and we already know that new Marvel shows will be part of the content. The rumored series so far are based on characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, such as Loki and Scarlet Witch. However, Deadline states that it was Netflix's decision to cancel Iron Fist, rather than Marvel's, so the character could get a second chance on the Disney service.In related news, Daredevil Season 3 hit Netflix this week. In his review, GameSpot's Michael Rougeau said the new season has a "much needed laser focus on the characters and stories fans actually care about." Check out the full review here.Info from Gamespot.com

Ever since Bethesda Game Studios announced the next game in the Fallout series, it's been difficult to get a sense of what Fallout 76--an online-only RPG--is all about. While the concept of an online Fallout experience is enticing, it also comes into conflict with the series' typical brand of role-playing. Though Fallout 76 does lessen those traditionally single-player details to a noticeable degree, it offers up an alluring opportunity to explore uncharted, irradiated territory with other players online.With the pivot to multiplayer, Fallout 76 focuses a lot more on exploration and survival in West Virginia's Appalachia, with all its regional oddities and newfound horrors coming in large doses. Recently, we played three hours of the game ahead of the game's upcoming October beta, and spoke with developers from Bethesda Game Studios about the particular challenges of making a different kind of Fallout.Set only 25 years after the bombs dropped--making it the earliest game in the series' timeline--Fallout 76 gives itself plenty of distance from previous games to show off the freshly devastated wilderness. In traditional fashion, you leave the safe confines of the Vault to venture out into the wasteland--bringing with you a sense of determination, and also the naïveté that can come from living in somewhat comfortable isolation. After a quick introduction, you create your character, get accustomed to the new controls and systems, and venture out to the surface. However, what sets this game apart from the others is that you're one of many survivors. And once you're outside, it's every Vault Dweller for themselves.During the first hour, I got my bearings by taking a tour around the immediate area, even joining a group to take in all the sights. Fallout 76 has the familiar RPG mechanics and sense of exploration that the series is known for, but it also has more of an amusement park vibe--with several key attractions and locales clearly highlighted on the map, such as The Greenbrier Resort and the Top of the World ski-slope. While exploring Fallout's take on West Virginia, which is several times larger than the Commonwealth of Fallout 4, I got the feeling that I was sort of experiencing the greatest hits of all things Fallout. First came the familiar weapons and armor found from previous games, then came the feral ghouls, the Super Mutants, and references to the Brotherhood of Steel and Enclave.Still, the new location in West Virginia feels totally different from Fallout 4's Capital Wasteland and the Mojave from New Vegas, which quickly introduces its own brand of locales and strange monsters that reside there. Along with weird monsters like enlarged ticks, three-headed possums, and even Mole Men, there are other monsters that reference West Virginian urban legends. This includes the headless, hulking Grafton Monster and the enigmatic Mothman, the latter of which is revered by the hostile cabal of Scorched, heavily irradiated humans who eventually evolve into ghouls of sound mind.For the most part, combat and general movement handle similarly to Fallout 4. However, the new mechanics and survival systems at play felt somewhat overwhelming to get a handle during our introduction. In 76, much of the tutorial happens in a trial by fire scenario in the open world, where you'll have to follow the early moments of the quests closely in order to learn the new mechanics, all while fighting off enemies and scavenging resources. While I appreciated the quick pace at which players are whisked out of the vault, picking up some meager supplies along the way, I felt that the on-boarding process could be a bit more detailed--it made me feel mostly unprepared as I was scrambling to find any weapon I could get my hands on.With the new online focus, some returning mechanics have seen some changes. For instance, Fallout's iconic V.A.T.S.--allowing you to target enemies and fire off precisely-aimed shots--now operates in real-time. It acts more like a real-time lock-on--with your weapon's hit-rate adjusting depending on the enemy's movement or their surroundings. This style of V.A.T.S. definitely took some getting used to. Mostly to the fact that enemies move around often, and combined with the awkward focus of the V.A.T.S. camera, it was jarring to actually use it during a fight. Because of this, I mostly stuck with standard aiming and shooting, which felt more reliable during engagements. While you can upgrade V.A.T.S. with perks to make it more effective, it feels more like an option that should be used sparingly.Fallout 76's survival mechanics take many cues from Fallout 4's more challenging Survival mode. In addition to keeping your character well fed on a regular basis, you'll also have to avoid ailments and diseases--such as contracting the oddly named but still troubling Rad Worms. Some enemies and locations even carry specific diseases, which create added risks to watch out for when exploring. These illnesses range from diseases that sap your maximum health, action points, and the general damage resistances for your character, to even increasing your susceptibility to radiation.With a large emphasis on survival, nearly every item and resource you can get your hands on feels much more valuable. Nothing really lasts too long in Fallout 76--even the buffs from Bobbleheads and skill magazines only last a short time--so every tool you have will inevitably be discarded for something new. As you're scavenging through the open world, you'll find junk items, scraps, and crafting plans that can be turned into new gear and building materials for your constructions. Some of these materials can create bizarre weapons like the Heated Pitchfork or Ski-Sword--a single ski sharpened to form a blade. But over time, weapons and armor will eventually need to be repaired or broken down into materials for other items. Moreover, cooking and chem stations now have a greater importance, allowing you to prepare meals and craft support items.Character growth is still the core part of Fallout 76, and it offers an impressive amount of variety and flexibility. After leveling up, you can place points into the familiar categories of the SPECIAL system, each of which boost areas of your character's raw stats. Eventually, you'll acquire a pack of Perk Cards that can offer special buffs in their assigned categories. For example, the Gladiator perk card is a Strength card which increases damage with melee weapons, while Lead Belly can decrease the radiation from drinking contaminated water. The more points you have in a category, the more Perk Cards you can potentially slot in, giving you a whole suite of added buffs. At any time, you can swap out your set of Perk Cards to readjust your character, to better prepare for different challenges.In keeping with the game's focus on pioneering, the building mechanics from Fallout 4 also return. Now known as the C.A.M.P. system, you have in your possession a mobile construction device that allows you create a building at any time--provided that it doesn't overlap with existing structures. You have free rein to construct whatever you like, whether that be subtle safe-houses for you to stash supplies, or even larger mega-structures that house turrets and a dedicated place to relax. If you ever want to pack up and move elsewhere, you can save your structure as a blueprint and dismantle it. This can come in handy if your chosen spot becomes too popular with other players.The biggest point of contention with Fallout 76's online nature is its lack of NPCs and slimmed down story, now serve to highlight the focus on moment-to-moment engagements with enemies and other players. This lack of traditional interactions and storytelling felt more noticeable the deeper we dove into the world. While you're certainly free to play solo and avoid other players--and we definitely took the opportunity to strike out on our own, leading to those familiar moments of solitude and wanderlust, you'll always be a potential target within the online world.Having said that, I couldn't help but feel intrigued by the re-focus here. Lore and smaller doses of story are still in surprisingly ample supply, but told passively through the environment and journals scattered about. While there are no active NPC characters to find--with exception to roaming robots that can offer trades and intel--you'll eventually stumble across the bodies of long-dead survivors who have had a notable presence in the world. In their possession are special holotapes known Survivor Stories, detailing the last moments of their lives in the irradiated wilderness.These stories told some interesting tales for the characters in Appalachia, which had some poignant and heartfelt moments to them--which was reassuring given the fragmented nature of the storytelling in 76. Speaking with design director Emil Paglliarulo, he elaborated on their refocus to make Fallout more about engaging with others players."We started off with the premise where the only other people you see are the ones that came from the vault," he said. "We've also never had the opportunity to do a game that's set twenty-five years after the bombs fell, it's always been two-hundred something years after. Now, we have the stories of the people that survived the initial war, and we've never been able to tell those stories before. Of course without NPCs or no dialog trees--which was a huge adjustment for our quest designers, as they were used to doing it a certain way--and now the lore-heavy stuff comes from holo-tapes, which now has its own tab in the Pip-Boy. That's been really interesting for us. And what ended up happening is that we ended up having a much more lonely story than in Fallout 4. All of these people that you do [learn about] are dead already, and it's almost like a weird ghost story. We didn't expect that."Whether you want to play solo or within a group, player interaction is a big part of the game. Encountering another person after rounding the corner or reaching the end of a dungeon creates some genuinely tense feelings--not knowing what intentions the other player in front of you has. To communicate with others, Fallout 76 features a variety of in-game emotes to use and proximity based voice-chat. During our session, however, we used Xbox Live's party chat client to stay in constant communication with our group--which won't be the case for most players online.When playing in groups, communication is important, and the emotes and proximity chat are a great way to get your point across. This is especially vital when grouping up for some of the more active quests that task you with overcoming some bizarre obstacles, such as finding the keys to an armory in a makeshift town built out of a destroyed aircraft, or finding out a mob of "unruly golfer feral ghouls" at a ritzy resort that's still maintained by protectotrons. This can lead to some humorous and equally tense moments where players are scrambling to rely on their team's special skills to progress further.Once you reach level 5, Fallout 76's PvP systems open up. When you encounter another player that's over level 5, you can fire your weapon at them to let them know of your intentions. If they return fire, then you'll both engage in a duel, with the loser dropping their current haul of junk items--no caps or gear is lost after a defeat. When shooting at a player that hasn't engaged in response, all damage will be cut in half, which gives them enough time to react. It's possible to kill another player who is not into the idea of fighting, and appropriately enough, this backhanded approach will mark you as a murderer, painting a massive target on your back for all players in the world to see.Our group of level 5 explorers tried to take down a level-58 player in power armor in similar fashion, but it didn't go over well at all as he easily decimated the group with a high-powered Tesla Rifle. While damage calculations scale for enemies, allowing low-level players to potentially take out monsters several levels ahead of them, it does not for PvP engagements. However, if you wish to avoid PvP, or if a player is bugging you too much, you can block them or fast-travel to safety fairly easily. So far, the system in place is a thoughtful way to overcome the potential harassment that can often spring up with this type of game.To cap off our hands-on time, the developers launched a nuke, which obliterates specific areas of the map. We all had front row seats to the explosion, and then proceeded to jump into the ensuing fallout--with its heavy radiation promptly killing us off one-by-one. As one of the larger end-game goals in Fallout 76, activating a nuke can lead to new events in the irradiated areas, revealing rare materials and dangerous enemies to fight. It also highlights the more dynamic nature of Fallout 76, with many of its narrative touches informed by the player's decisions in the world.The scale of Fallout 76 seemed impressive based on the first few hours. The location of West Virginia--and all its oddities--was exciting to dive into, which felt refreshing after coming off of Fallout 4's Commonwealth. However, much like previous Fallout games, there were a number of odd bugs and large frame-rate dips that occurred throughout. This was especially noticeable during larger fire fights against large groups of enemies, which brought overall performance down to a slog. The developers we spoke to, however, assured us that the performance will be improved in time for its November 14 launch.76 certainly isn't like other Fallout games. After our three hours, I got the impression that Bethesda is taking a risky approach with the series in regards to its lore and its core gameplay. With its heavy focus on survival gameplay and the online experience, I suspect that this largely experimental take on Fallout will become a rather polarizing entry. Though the mechanics were somewhat overwhelming to get a handle of, I can't deny that I enjoyed exploring the large map and engaging in the mysterious, post-apocalyptic take on West Virginia. Fallout 76 looks like it can flourish in the long-term, and I'm interested in what can come about after many hours in its off-kilter and ever-changing setting.Info from Gamespot.com