NBCUniversal's Peacock has arrived, but if you're like most people around the world, there's a good chance you won't be able to watch it on your favorite TV, as it's not available on Roku or Amazon devices. With other major services like HBO Max--which has the same Roku and Amazon issue--and the dead-on-arrival Quibi also launching this year, where does Peacock fit?Sadly, the service--which had a soft launch earlier this year for Xfinity users--is a letdown from the get-go. Accessing a new streaming service shouldn't be an issue. Accessibility should be the least problematic thing about it, yet here we are. As mentioned, Peacock is not available on Roku and Amazon, which combined have over 72 million active users. Additionally, PS4 users won't be able to use Peacock until the week of July 20.It also isn't available on Samsung smart TVs. You can, however, use one of Xfinity's (Comcast) proprietary boxes to watch Peacock. Comcast users have the easiest time accessing this, but if you're like me and want nothing to do with Comcast, then your options are limited.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

NBC's new streaming service, Peacock, has arrived, and it's--well, it's not great. But great or not, many fans of classic comedy show The Office are going to be making the leap next year as The Office leaves Netflix for its new home. It's a devastating blow, but we've all been given plenty of time to prepare ourselves. The move was first announced back in January of 2019 and won't actually be carried until January 2021.But, Peacock has found a clever way to feature The Office on their platform five months early, without actually featuring The Office on their platform five months early.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Pre-orders are now live for Ready Player Two, the sequel to Ernest Cline's 2011 science fiction novel Ready Player One, and Amazon is selling the follow-up for a nice discount. Right now, you can pre-order Ready Player Two ahead of its November 24 publication date for $17.76, down from $29. While books are often sold for less than the list price ahead of release, this discount is fairly substantial for a new hardcover.Ready Player Two -- $17.76 (was $29) See at Amazon Ready Player Two was officially announced last week, though we've known Cline was planning a sequel leading up to Steven Spielberg's 2018 film adaptation of Ready Player One. However, no plot details have been revealed just yet for Ready Player Two, so we'll have to wait a bit longer to find out what Wade Watts is up to after becoming the new owner of the Oasis at the end of Ready Player One.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The PC version of Microsoft Flight Simulator is releasing on August 18, and European players will have the option of picking up a physical copy of the ambitious flight sim. Published by Aerosoft, the physical version will come on 10 discs. This is due to the game's massive size, which Microsoft has recommended players clear 150 GB of space for.On Aerosoft's official forums, community manager Mathijs Kok explained what will come on the 10 discs. He explains that there are four main parts to Microsoft Flight Simulator: the simulation itself, the world and aircraft that Microsoft has created, online content that is streamed, and third-party files. While the third-party and streamed content is optional, the world and aircraft must be downloaded and will take up around 90 GB of space."The boxed version makes it possible for people on a slower internet connection to get the sim installed without downloading the [world and aircraft]," Kok explained. "The simulator is in every way, 100 percent the same. The boxed retail version just gets you a nice box, printed manual, and about 90 GB you do not have to download."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

It's looking to be a great year for Pokemon spin-off games, with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX released this spring and a Pokemon Snap sequel coming to Nintendo Switch "soon." As someone who wasn't too impressed with the latest mainline Pokemon games, Pokemon Sword and Shield, it was a relief to see a new Pokemon game release on Switch this year, one filled to the brim with charm while also packing some seriously challenging combat and a truly memorable story. I'm talking about Rescue Team DX, of course, and if you missed out on this gem when it released back in March, you can grab it on sale for $40 with free shipping right now at GameFly. See Rescue Team DX at GameFly GameFly, a service that lets you rent video games and purchase them to keep if you like, currently has the best deal we've seen on Rescue Team DX. Keep in mind this is a used copy, but it comes with everything but the shrink wrap, including the colorful case. For $20 off, I think this deal is pretty worth it for a Switch game that's hovered around $60 since release. It was worth it for me at $60, but for $40, there's plenty of content here to keep you busy.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Mario's been having quite the party for his 35th birthday. Lego Super Mario and a really cool-looking Lego NES release August 1, and now we know they will be joined on the same day by new Mario-themed Monopoly and Jenga editions. First revealed by GameSpot sister site CNET, the Super Mario Celebration edition of Monopoly costs $30, while Jenga goes for $20.Jenga Super Mario edition -- $20Jenga Super Mario has a unique and appropriate spin on the classic block-stacking game. Up to four players--Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad--can go on a quest to slay Bowser. The four characters have pegs that slot into the sides of the bricks, and it's a race to the top. Each turn starts with a spin, which tells you to remove blocks like traditional Jenga, awards you coins, or moves you further up (or down) the tower.Monopoly - Super Mario Celebration edition -- $30Super Mario-themed versions of Monopoly have been a thing for years, but the Celebration edition offers a trip across series history, starting with the original Super Mario Bros. World 1-1 and ending with Bowser's Kingdom in place of Boardwalk. The player icons are based on popular items, including the Super Star, a Yoshi Egg, and Koopa Shell, while little Toad homes stand in for regular houses, and castles replace hotels. Currency, of course, is presented as coins rather than paper money, and there's an interactive Question Block that serves as a replacement for Chance cards.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Best Buy is bringing the heat when it comes to video game deals this week. Today's Deal of the Day delivers Borderlands 3's lowest price we've seen so far, but there are plenty of other incredible deals available this entire week. PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch games all see significant discounts, with some dropping below $20. If you've wanted to snag a few new games to play through the summer, this is an excellent opportunity to do so.Borderlands 3 is only $13 on both PS4 and Xbox One, though this deal ends soon, so you'll want to snag it as soon as possible if you're interested. That's incredibly cheap for one of last year's most popular games. Persona 5 Royal also hits one of its lowest prices. For only $40, you get the definitive version of this beloved JRPG, which GameSpot awarded a 10/10 in our Persona 5 Royal review.The recently released Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath Kollection is only $41 on PS4 and $50 on Xbox One. This gets you all of the DLC fighters that have been released for Mortal Kombat 11 so far, including Spawn, The Joker, and RoboCop. It also comes with the new story expansion that features the voice talents of Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa as Shang Tsung, reprising his role from the original 1995 movie.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The film adaptation of video game series Just Cause has landed Michael Dowse as its director. Dowse, whose directing credits include the action-comedies Stuber and Netflix's Coffee and Kareem, will direct a screenplay from Derek Kolstad (The John Wick trilogy).According to Deadline, the film "will follow the video game's blueprint, as Rico Rodriguez is on a race-against-time mission to stop the mercenary group The Black Hand. The series draws its name from the real-life United States invasion of Panama, code-named 'Operation Just Cause.'" Deadline is also reporting that the film will be getting a female co-lead giving the movie a Romancing The Stone vibe, referencing the 1984 romantic comedy-adventure starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.The Just Cause movie is one of many recent announcements of similar video-game adaptations, or others on the horizon, like the coming 2021 Monster Hunter movie, the long-in-development Uncharted movie (which has apparently begun filming), and the also long-lingering Minecraft movie.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

214 million Americans play video games for at least an hour a week and 75% have at least one gamer in their household, according to the Entertainment Software Association. The annual video game industry report found that 70% of kids under 18--51.1 million--and 64% of people 18 and older--163.3 million--play games.The report, based on survey data, also found that 65% of gamers play games with other people, primarily their in-person friends and significant others. A large portion of gamers over the age of 65 have been playing games for less than 10 years, 46% for men and 63% of women.The average age of a gamer is between 35-44 years old. 73% of gamers reported having a console and 43% having a handheld system.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The original ending to The Last of Us Part II was going to put Ellie down an even darker path. In an interview with Game Informer, creative director Neil Druckmann and narrative lead Halley Gross discussed the final moments in the PlayStation 4 exclusive."When I signed on a lot of it was very similar," Gross revealed. "We did a lot of iterations on what that last act looked like, but the final beat was that Ellie would kill Abby. About halfway through production, we changed that and had Ellie let go at the last second to [illustrate] that some little part of the old Ellie, the Ellie with humanity, the Ellie that is impacted by Joel, still exists within this character who has been so overtaken by her quest for revenge."The change occurred as the narrative team was discussing the fates of Lev and Yara as they originally had permutations with each of them dying or surviving. After it was argued that Lev should survive, Druckmann felt that Ellie shouldn't kill Abby anymore. Gross was shocked by the suggestion as she didn't even know that changing the ending was on the table.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

As we head into July, the summer anime season officially begins. The current pandemic has delayed production on a lot of anime, so this is one of the most sparse summer seasons we've seen in a while. But even so, there's still a few new shows that are worth your time if you're looking for something to watch.As a reminder, this list is not the best anime of the season--it's far too soon into the season to make that distinction. These six shows have just managed to catch our eye and are also based on well-received manga or light novels. Essentially, these are the six anime we're most excited to keep watching going forward, so we hope you'll join in and watch them with us. If there are any anime you think we missed, let us know in the comments section below. And if none of these shows catch your fancy, we recommend looking at the most popular picks in our best anime streaming services guide.The God of High SchoolAre you a fan of tournament arcs in anime? Because if so, you'll love The God of High School, as the show just begins with a tournament arc. You're not going to get anything profound from The God of High School's overall narrative or characters--the themes and tropes present in this Crunchyroll Original have all been touched on in other anime to some extent. That doesn't make The God of High School any less exciting though. This show is packed to the brim with well-choreographed battles, all of which are animated to capture the high-stakes action and dance-like movement of the combatants.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Escape From Tarkov developer Battlestate Games dropped patch notes for the highly-anticipated Patch 0.12.7 early, alongside a teaser video showcasing the new Customs expansion and some of the update's brand-new weapons--including the FN GL40 grenade launcher. Patch notes highlights include details on the new areas being added to Customs, a new scav boss at Shoreline, the reworked skill system, and an HP tweak that will end up being a huge nerf to some popular ammo types. There is no word on a release date for the patch just yet.According to the patch notes, the industrial area and construction site at Customs are getting expanded, with new explorable buildings, a new spawn location for scav boss Reshala, and stationary weapons. Shoreline is also getting new quests and a new scav boss named Sanitar. The last map to get a substantial expansion was Reserve, as part of an update in late June.The new weapons include the Mossberg 590A1 Shotgun and the FN GL40 grenade launcher, which you can get a glimpse of in the teaser video, at about 37 seconds. This should not be confused with the GP-34 underbarrel grenade launcher, another planned item that will be compatible with AK family assault rifles, but does not appear to be part of this update.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

A number of high profile accounts have been hacked on Twitter, all tweeting out Bitcoin scams. Reported by CNET, the Twitter accounts of Bill Gates, Kanye West, Elon Musk, Apple, and other high profile and verified accounts have been compromised, all tweeting out a similar Bitcoin scam.Kanye's since deleted tweet said "I am giving back to my fans. All Bitcoin sent to my address below will be sent back doubled. I am only doing a maximum of $10,000,000." The Bitcoin address given in the tweet was identical to the address in Gates', Musk's, and Apple's hacked tweets.Photo Credit: CNETPhoto Credit: CNETThe official Twitter Support account posted a statement saying that they are aware of the issue and are investigating. Given the high-profile nature of all the accounts, including Barack Obama and Joe Biden, they most likely use two-factor authentication, so the hacked tweets are most likely not the result of their passwords being figured out.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

A recent update to Overwatch has removed one of the cosmetic sprays that players can tag onto surfaces as the cowboy gunslinger McCree. The spray in question depicts a rope tied in the shape of a noose, and it has been replaced by a horseshoe that says "bad luck."While developer Blizzard has not said anything publicly about the decision to remove the spray, it appears to be a part of a widespread reckoning with racist and racially-charged imagery in media. The image of the noose has long been associated with the lynchings of Black men in the United States, and it's been in the news recently due to the discovery of a noose in the stall of Bubba Wallace, a Black driver for Nascar.Overwatch has come under fire for its cosmetics in the past, with one of Pharah's skins drawing fire for its Native American imagery. Some fans have also called for Blizzard to remove the game's explicitly police-themed skins for characters such as Brigitte and D.Va, but there's been no movement on that front as of yet.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The Skate 4 development team has added a very big name. Dan McCulloch, the former head of Xbox Live and longtime Microsoft veteran, has joined EA to become Studio GM for the Skate development team."I've been a huge fan of Skate for over a decade, and now I'm honored to be part of that amazing community," McCulloch said on Twitter where he announced the news.Today, I'm incredibly excited to share that I'm going to be joining the SKATE family @EA as Studio GM. I've been a huge fan of @skateEA for over a decade, and now I'm honored to be part of that amazing community. Be on the lookout for more information coming in the future! pic.twitter.com/mY9Jm1afkW — Dan McCulloch 🎮 (@McDanRandom) July 15, 2020Xbox boss Phil Spencer congratulated McCulloch on the move. "I'm really happy for that he's realizing a dream of leading a team building a game. Now Dan, Skate isn't just any franchise for many of us, this is important....focus :-)" Spencer said in his own tweet.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com