With next-gen consoles come new hardware standards. Among the new technical upgrades coming with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S HDMI 2.1 support. But what exactly makes HDMI 2.1 different, and is it worth buying a new TV for? We're here to provide you with answers to those burning questions.Below, we break down everything you need to know about HDMI 2.1, such as the improvements to color and HDR it offers. As you'd expect, its most significant benefit to gaming is the ability to output 4K at 120fps, so we also touch on some of the titles confirmed to support it. If you're interested in buying a TV with HDMI 2.1, check out our roundup of the best 4K TVs for PS5 and Xbox Series X. Otherwise, read on for everything you need to know or check out the video version of this feature in the player below for a more visual look at what we've detailed.What Is HDMI 2.1, And What Are Its Benefits?In short, HDMI 2.1 is the latest version of HDMI that distinguishes itself by being capable of transmitting an impressive bandwidth of 48 Gbps (GigaBits) in the cable. This is a considerable improvement from the previous 2.0 cables, which carry 18 Gbps. In general, bandwidth determines the max amount of data the signal in the cable can send. The higher the resolution and frame rate, the more data is needed.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

EA was supposed to release NHL 21 during this year's Stanley Cup playoffs, but complications due to COVID-19 led to a delay. The Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup weeks ago, and as a result, ice hockey has escaped the wider public sports consciousness as other leagues take hold. But NHL 21 is a compelling reason to care about hockey again, as this year's game delivers a major improvement to the story mode, adds a flashy new arcade-style mode in HUT Rush, and makes the on-the-ice gameplay better than ever thanks to a series of new skill moves that let you play with more style.Be A Pro 2.0The biggest new addition for NHL 21 is the expanded and improved Be A Pro. After NHL 20 delivered basically no updates on the career-focused mode, NHL 21 offers a huge step forward thanks to a cinematic-style campaign of sorts, where you create a character and guide them through their career, beginning in either Europe or the Canadian Hockey League and competing for a spot in the NHL. The story beats play out through non-voiced dialogue sequences and cutscenes with coaches, media, and teammates. The main choices you make come from the Team or Star paths, and both have pros and cons to consider as you weigh your options to shape your career in the way you want to.As an example, my agent called me to ask if I wanted to attend a charity event for a wildlife protection company. I chose the "Team" response, and my brand rating improved because the simulation suggested my fans would see this as a sports star being humble and genuine. However, choosing this option came with a negative effect, too, as my agent told me it was a noble choice but I should also plan for my life after hockey and try to make as much money in my prime as possible. I enjoyed the struggle of making these choices, and I found myself choosing one option and then loading a previous save to see how things would have played out differently. The choices you have to make can be real head-scratchers and they generally seem believable and taken from real-world headlines. But while the conversation system and cutscenes are generally enjoyable and a step up from the past iterations of Be A Pro, they are at times very cheesy and contrived, so the conversations and their impact don't always resonate.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Ikenfell is a magical school in its seemingly natural state: peril. Students have gone missing, strange trees are cropping up, and other magical anomalies plague the land. As Mariette, the non-magical yet still worried sister of one of Ikenfell’s students, you embark on a journey through this pixelated 2D RPG adventure to save her, the school, and maybe the whole world. A number of interesting ideas in both story and combat make Ikenfell an appealing prospect, but since some prove stronger than others in execution, ultimately it's a journey with more than a few bumps in the road.As the game begins, Mariette almost immediately gains supernatural pyromantic abilities thanks to strange magical occurrences. It actually feels a bit at odds with the message of not needing to be magical to be heroic, which throws the vibe off kilter right from the beginning. The conceit does make sense within the context of the story, though, and sets out one of the first mysteries in the game. New forms of magic are cropping up, and even some who previously had no magical powers suddenly find themselves wielding elemental magic. Mariette can use her new fire power to take on the various magical enemies of Ikenfell in turn-based isometric grid battles, with a bit of a twist.Ikenfell captured on Nintendo SwitchGallery Combat is a fairly large part of the game and is mostly turn-based. Turns are split between a movement phase, where you position your team on the battlefield, and then an attack phase where you select from combat options that have their unique ranges and damage, and sometimes added effects. Starting out you’ll have basic attacks which do moderate damage to a single enemy in front of you on the grid. As levels are gained, party members added, and moves are unlocked, more strategies and styles open up.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Game producer Kazumasa Habu has confirmed that the tactical RPG Digimon Survive now launches in 2021. An exact release date has not been revealed as of yet. However, the game is still slated to arrive on Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.The Digimon Games Twitter account shared a statement by the game producer. Habu said that "current world events" impacted the development timing of Digimon Survive, making it difficult for the team to hit its original 2020 release window."We originally planned to launch Digimon Survive in 2020 but current world events have shifted our development timing and we have made the difficult decision to push Digimon Survive's launch to 2021," Habu said. "We thank you all for your continued patience as we work to create a fun and engaging tactical RPG game along with a memorable story for Digimon fans. We will share some exciting updates for Digimon Survive in Spring 2021, so please stay tuned for more information."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Fresh off of its 1Up Sale during Prime Day 2020, GameStop is hosting another Pro Day Sale with deals on new and pre-owned games, collectibles, and more. The sale is exclusive to PowerUp Rewards Pro members through tomorrow, October 16, but it will open up to everyone over the weekend. As usual, there are a wide assortment of promotions as well as discounts on many popular games.Game deals include Final Fantasy VII Remake for $39, which is one of the best deals we've seen on the excellent Square Enix RPG. You can also grab Doom Eternal for $29, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order for $30, and PGA Tour 2K21 for $50. You can browse the full selection of game deals at GameStop; here's a list of the best ones.Final Fantasy VII Remake -- $39 ($60)Doom Eternal -- $29 ($60)Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order -- $30 ($60)Mortal Kombat 11 -- $15 ($30)PGA Tour 2K21 -- $50 ($60)Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot -- $30 ($60)Borderlands 3 -- $10 ($20)Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath Kollection -- $40 ($60)Resident Evil 3 Remake -- $35 ($60)Collection of Mana -- $19 ($30)There weren't any deals on PS4 or Xbox One controllers during Prime Day, but the Pro Day Sale features pre-owned first-party wireless controllers for $40. It's worth noting that Xbox One controllers will work with Xbox Series X and Series S, while DualShock 4 controllers will only work with backwards-compatible PS4 games on PS5.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Pokemon Sword and Shield's second DLC expansion, The Crown Tundra, launches next week, and to celebrate its release, Switch Online members will have another chance to unlock a Pokemon theme in Tetris 99. The online puzzler's next Maximus Cup event kicks off tomorrow, October 16, and it brings back the Sword and Shield theme from last November.Like the previous Sword and Shield Maximus Cup, this weekend's event is a point-based competition. You'll earn points depending on how highly you place each round, with the theme unlocking once you hit a specific milestone. Previously, you needed to amass 100 points to unlock the Sword and Shield theme, but this time around, you'll only need to earn 50.Celebrate the launch of The Crown Tundra in the #PokemonSwordShieldEX on 10/22 with another chance to earn a returning #Tetris99 theme! pic.twitter.com/d4vMCRC4nF — Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) October 13, 2020The Maximus Cup runs until 11:59 PM PT on October 19 (2:59 AM ET on October 20), and you'll need to have an active Nintendo Switch Online subscription to participate. You can read more about the event on the official Tetris 99 website.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Popular esports organization FaZe Clan has announced that it will host an Among Us tournament on October 19 at 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET.The tournament, "FaZe Clan Among Us In-Vent-ational," is limited to 40 spots for select FaZe talent, streamers, and celebrity friends of the organization. A cash prize of $25,000 is on the line for those competing in the tournament. The current roster of confirmed participants include FaZe Apex, FaZe Adapt, FaZe Nate Hill, FaZe Sway, FaZe Blaze, FaZe H1ghSky1, and LeBron James' son LeBron James Jr. (FaZe Bronny, one of FaZe Clan's newest signees). More competitors will be announced soon.As for the tournament itself, it will be a solo competitor game where every crewmate or imposter is playing for themselves. You can watch the "FaZe Clan Among Us In-Vent-ational" livestream on FaZe Clan's official Twitch and YouTube channels.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Among Us is a game about creating your own experience. You can tweak and change the in-game rules to your heart's desire in order to create the experience you want, but some players are going a little further. They've found a way to add their own custom character designs to the game by modding it.One mod turns every crewmate and impostor into a Toad from Paper Mario while another adds Monokuma from the Danganronpa series. Other mods have changed the designs of crewmates, ghosts, and impostors in smaller ways, like this special Halloween design."Fungus Among Us" Skin Pack Credit: TimerofPopsiclesAmong Us is an online multiplayer game, so every change that individual players make will only show up on their devices, though these new skin packs are fun if everyone in your group adds them to their games. Here's a tutorial on how to replace the in-game art with other designs. Remember that cheating has become a problem in Among Us, so don't add any mods that let you alter gameplay.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The United States presidential election is coming up. Perhaps you've heard of it. But just in case you haven't, video games are coming to remind you. Kinda Funny Games has announced it will host the first public showing of Biden Island, a custom-built Animal Crossing: New Horizons island created to promote the candidacy of Democrat Joe Biden.Host Greg Miller made the announcement via Twitter. He said that Biden Island will debut on the Kinda Funny Twitch channel on Friday, October 16 at 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET. This is in partnership with Biden's presidential campaign, so expect to see plenty of campaign material.This isn't the first time the Biden campaign has promoted itself through Animal Crossing. In September, the campaign released Animal Crossing yard signs. These appeared to be modeled after real-life yard signs, a mainstay of presidential campaigns, albeit simplified for the smaller design space. And unlike your real neighbors, your Animal Crossing residents probably won't steal them.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

One of the hallmark features on the Xbox Series X or Series S consoles is Quick Resume--the ability to suspend multiple games and swap between them with minimal loading. It's a feature that will let you zip between paused games in ways only the new internal SSD can afford, but it can also save your progress after a console reboot.Quick Resume won't only work while your Series X/S is on or in standby. Instead, game states will also be retained during a full console cold boot, which includes a full loss of power to the console. You can still presumably lose progress if the console loses power suddenly, such as a power outage for example. But if you're planning to shut down your Series X/S for an update or when you want to move your console, you can rest assured that your games will be ready when you boot up again.This feature was announced earlier this year when Microsoft was detailing some of the technical specifics of the Xbox Series X, but now that we've had some time with the new console, we can confirm that it indeed works as intended. We've also looked at loading times from external HDDs, early performance of launch titles such as Dirt 5 and Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and more. Check out our final Xbox Series X preview for all the details.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Sony has released the version 8.00 update for PlayStation 4, introducing improvements to party messages, quick menu options, remote play, and more. One of the most important changes, however, was one that allows you to make your PSN account more secure.Sony has offered 2-Step Verification (2SV) for PSN accounts for a long time, but it has stuck to just SMS authentication since its introduction. It's convenient, but also an insecure way of supporting the feature, since it depends on the security of your carrier as well as your smartphone. With version 8.00, Sony has finally added support for third-party authenticator apps, taking one point of failure out of the equation.After logging into your PSN account, you'll need to deactivate your current 2SV protection before being able to reactivate it with the new app-based method. You'll be supplied with a QR code that can be scanned with numerous authenticator apps (such as Google's own free one) or enter the authentication code to register your account. Ensure that you take note of your backup codes again and store them in a secure location.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 has been getting some wild fan-made skate parks. Everything from Delfino Plaza to the opening level from Spyro: Year of the Dragon has been recreated so players can shred the gnar in these iconic levels.Redditor SonicDagan765's first custom skate park was a recreation of one of the most memorable levels in Spyro: Year of the Dragon. They kept videos of the game open on the side as they crafted purple ramps and rails to replicate the sassy dragon's playground in concrete. "I just paused it and tried to replicate the feel for [the levels]," they said in a Reddit thread of them sharing their Spyro-inspired park. "But it took many edits.""Spyro 3 Skate Parks" This recreation is just one example of the wild skate parks players have come up with in the pro skater remake. Players have built levels from other platformers, like Bomb-Omb Battlefield from Super Mario 64. The creator of that map, Gunderstank16, also recreated Super Mario Sunshine's Delfino Plaza.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

This week on Wrestle Buddies, GameSpot's professional wrestling podcast, Chris E. Hayner and Mat Elfring are hanging out with friends, old and new. And, naturally, there are so many things to talk about--from the rise of AEW to horror video games to, of all things, Boy Meets World.First, TV Guide's Keisha Hatchet is back. The third Wrestle Buddy is here to talk about all of the times Boy Meets World features wrestlers on guest stars. Do you remember how Vader's kid went to the same high school as Cory, Shawn, and Topanga? We sure do.Then, we welcome AEW star Sonny Kiss to the show to celebrate the one year anniversary of AEW Dynamite. It's been a wild year for Kiss, and we're discussing the best moments. We also find out what video games the "Concrete Rose" is playing and talk horror movies. After all, it is spooky season.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

With Halloween right around the corner, now's the perfect time to play some unsettling games. If you're a PS4 owner looking to get in the holiday spirit, the PlayStation Store is hosting its annual Halloween Sale right now. Not every game in the sale is a pure horror game, which means you can grab titles like Death Stranding and Days Gone for cheap, too. The Halloween Sale runs until November 3, so you have a few weeks to make your picks. There's also a new Games Under $20 promotion filled with lots of bargains.There are a handful of solid horror games in the sale. Resident Evil 2's stellar 2019 remake is discounted to $16, Little Nightmares is down to $5, and both Evil Within games are 50% off; the first entry is $10, while The Evil Within 2 is $30. You can also grab the atmospheric first-person shooter Alien: Isolation, and all of its DLC, for only $8.Other games that somewhat touch on the horror genre are heavily featured in the sale, too. Death Stranding is on sale for $30, Days Gone is down to $20, and Doom Eternal is $30. You can also snag The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's Complete edition for $15 and Nioh for $10. Though not a huge discount, it's worth noting that the recently released Souls-like Mortal Shell is on sale for $25.49.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Jackbox Party Pack 7 launches today. It's a fantastic way to make Zoom calls with your friends and family less awkward.Chicago-bases studio Jackbox Games is streaming the new party pack all day to celebrate, letting you tune in to get a peek at what the new games look like before trying them yourself.The Jackbox Party Pack 7 is now available! Play 5 new party games tonight:📝 Quiplash 3🔥 Champ'd Up👉 Talking Points😈 The Devils and the Details🧐 Blather 'RoundLearn more about #PartyPack7 ➡️ https://t.co/fB3pcsm3GA pic.twitter.com/RWWfUEPXTO — Jackbox Games (@jackboxgames) October 15, 2020Quiplash 3, the follow up to Quiplash and Quiplash 2, brings the battle of funny sayings back with new prompts and finale modes. The pack is available on Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, Xbox One, and PC for $30 and comes with four new party games in addition to Quiplash 3, including:Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com