Quite a few games have been added to Xbox Game Pass in recent weeks, but there are two standout titles that have just joined the subscription service's vault: CrossCode and Fallout 76.Both games are now available to subscribers of either Xbox Game Pass for Console or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, meaning you will be able to check out CrossCode and Fallout 76 on their Xbox One without having to buy the game outright. It's worth noting that Fallout 76 is also available on Xbox Game Pass for PC. CrossCode is relegated to the console-specific Xbox Game Pass tiers.Developed by Radical Fish Games and published by Deck13 Interactive as a homage to classic 16-bit RPGs like Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana, CrossCode is an isometric 2D RPG with challenging combat and puzzles. You play as a mute protagonist named Lea who plays a fictional MMORPG to regain her memories of what happened in the real world. The game has been well received by critics and fans alike, with its score hovering around the high 80s on Metacritic.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Superhot: Mind Control Delete, a new standalone sequel to Superhot, releases on July 16 and is free for owners of the original. In a PlayStation Blog post, co-director Cezary Skorupka said that Mind Control Delete started as a short side project, but quickly evolved into a full-sized, standalone game.Mind Control Delete features more Superhot gameplay, tasking players with making calculated slow-motion movements to clear enemies with limited tools available. It takes the game further, with bigger levels, more mechanics, and more characters.Mind Control Delete will be free for anyone who bought the original game prior to July 16, with a few caveats. Anyone who bought the game on Steam, GOG, Epic Games Store, Origin, or PS4 will have Mind Control Delete added to their library at release. Xbox One players who bought the game will receive a code for the game through an Xbox Live Message within a few days of its release.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Sony has officially unveiled what PS5 game boxes are going to look like. They don't differ drastically from the PS4 box art, but sport a white stripe at the top that should make them easy to spot on your shelves if the two are mixed together.A sneak peek at what PS5 games will look like when you see them on store shelves starting this holiday: https://t.co/i2ByEdWYRS pic.twitter.com/TmB4FzFMJZ — PlayStation (@PlayStation) July 9, 2020The reveal was made using the official box art for Spider-Man: Miles Morales. The standalone game includes the new PlayStation Studios logo. Where the top banner on PS4 games was previously blue with white lettering, it's white with black lettering on PS5 boxes. The white is also present in the spine, which otherwise shows the game title just like it would on a PS4 box. Sony clearly didn't have as much work to do when transitioning to the new generation this time around. Its early PS3 designs, including the lettering on the system itself and the game boxes, was much different than its later designs--the revisions were what Sony stuck with going forward, both on PS4 and PS5. Ironically, this early lettering was very similar to the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies' logos.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Since the release of Half-Life 2: Episode 2 in 2007, Valve has gone through multiple iterations of a potential Half-Life 3. One such idea would've turned the game into a replayable rogue-lite of sorts, after the success of the Left 4 Dead franchise.The idea, detailed in Geoff Keighley's Final Hours of Half-Life: Alyx, was in development during 2013 and would've added an element of proceduralism to Half-Life. Players would have to navigate a procedurally generated building to save a prisoner and engage in random enemy encounters. More traditional story elements would've been served in-between these runs, but the core principle would be replayability.The idea was ultimately canned, but not for straying away from the foundations of the series. Instead, this version of Half-Life 3 suffered from development issues with Valve's Source Engine 2, which made development challenging. Source 2 was missing features such as lighting, save functionality, and visibility options, which compounded with the difficulty of modelling outdoor areas in an engine more suited to blocky interior ones. These issues contributed to the cancelation of this Half-Life 3 iteration, as well as a proposed Left 4 Dead 3.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

This week on Wrestle Buddies, GameSpot's professional wrestling podcast, Chris E. Hayner and Mat Elfring are finally discussing one of the most important topics in the history of wrestling: pasta. Of course, that's not all we talk about.First up, Mat and Chris dive deep into DDT Pro, a Japanese comedy wrestling company that captures our imaginations during Wrestlemania weekend in 2019. If you love Legos and bicycles used as weapons, an inflatable doll that's the most popular wrestler on the roster, and matches that end because someone farts loudly, this is the company for you.Next, it's a pasta celebration, as Chris takes Mat and the listeners to the Mall of America in 1995 to celebrate the opening of Hulk Hogan's Pastamania, which happened on the debut episode of WCW Nitro. Once upon a time, Hulk Hogan opened a quick-service pasta restaurant at the Mall of America. It didn't last long, but it'll live forever in our hearts and on the WWE Network.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Microsoft isn't done acquiring new studios, head of Xbox Phil Spencer has revealed. Originally reported by Gamesindustry.biz, Xbox Game Studios' first priority is supporting already acquired studios like Double Fine and Obsidian, but Spencer said that the door is open for more acquisitions."We have really strong support from Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, and Amy Hood, the CFO. And there's been no signal at all that we should be slowing down, but just to go at a pace that is maintainable for us as a leadership team," Spencer said. "We're always out there talking to people. But it has to be the right opportunity."This lines up with a recent report that Microsoft expressed interest in purchasing Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WB Games) from AT&T. WB Games includes Rocksteady (Batman Arkham Knight), NetherRealm Studios (Mortal Kombat 11), and more. No sale has been announced and the deal would most likely not include IP like Batman.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Epic Games has dabbled in secret challenges with Fortnite over the years, including a secret war between bears and gnomes last season, and this newest season is no different. There is one secret "Coral Buddies" challenge that nets you a hefty reward and a new back bling. There will most likely be more secret challenges similar to this one in the near future so check back for more guides on that front.The challenge is called Coral Buddies Wood Age Quest and is pretty simple if you know what to look for on the Season 3 map.Where Do You Find The Coral Buddies?The Coral Buddies, weird little blue creatures, are situated on a small island completely surrounded by water on the northwestern corner of the map. You'll find the creatures and a small encampment on the sand. There is usually very little loot so be ready to start the game off with few weapons if you decide to land here first.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

It's wild to realize that society's obsessive adoration of the Child--more commonly called Baby Yoda--from the Star Wars Disney+ series The Mandalorian has only been part of our lived reality since last November. At that time, much was made over the show's use of a $5 million animatronic puppet to play the beloved character, over a more industry-standard computer-generated version. It turns out that, even with all those millions, the show's production still, at times, relied on CGI to bring the Child to life.Famously, the puppet was defended by austere German filmmaker Werner Herzog, who played the Client. According to Vanity Fair, he interceded when the show's creator Jon Favreau and executive producer Dave Filoni were about to move the puppet and film a take they could potentially insert a CGI version into. "You are cowards," he declared. "Leave it."Variety fair has now revealed that, even with Herzog's firm admonishment, the show still sometimes used CGI over the animatronic puppet. A quote from Animation Supervisor Hal Hickel described one instance, where the Child first exhibited force powers.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Sony and Fortnite developer Epic Games have announced a new kind of partnership, with Sony investing $250 million for a minority stake in Epic, according to a GamesBeat report. It's unclear what percentage Sony now owns, but this is not a controlling stake in the company.The deal solidifies the already-close relationship between Epic Games and Sony, with the two teaming up more recently to show off the advanced technology of Unreal Engine 5 running on a PlayStation 5. Sony's investment will allow the two to "create unique experiences for consumers and creators," GamesBeat said.Unreal Engine, Epic Games' proprietary creation toolkit that many modern games are built upon, has become increasingly popular since its inception in 1998. Originally built for first-person shooters like Unreal, UE is now one of the most popular engines used in game development, powering titles such as Gears 5 and many more.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

A new set of Season 3 challenges is now live in Fortnite. Like last week's batch, one of Week 4's missions revolves around floating rings; specifically, the challenge asks you to collect floating rings at Pleasant Park. If you need help tracking those down, we've put together this map and guide showing you where the floating rings are located and how to complete the challenge. We also have a note regarding a bug impacting some players, which prevents them from being able to collect the floating rings. [Update: Seemingly because no easy fix was possible, Epic has opted to automatically complete this challenge for all players. That means you won't need to go through any of the steps below in order to collect the corresponding reward--though you could certainly still head to Pleasant Park for a pleasant ride along the ziplines.]Due to an issue with the Collect Floating Rings at Pleasant Park challenge, we've automatically completed it for all players. — Fortnite Status (@FortniteStatus) July 9, 2020Where Are The Pleasant Park Floating Rings?There are at least four floating rings scattered around Pleasant Park, which is how many you'll need to collect to complete the challenge. Pleasant Park itself is located between grid squares D2 and D3, but the rings are all around the outskirts of the area. We've marked down the locations of all the floating rings we've found on the map below.Pleasant Park floating rings mapHow To Complete The ChallengeMuch like Week 3's floating ring challenge, all you need to do to collect the rings is walk or jump into them. The most expedient way to complete the challenge would be to start with one on the bottom left, then head north to collect the ring at the base of the zipline and ride that to reach the remaining two rings. Once you've collected all four, you'll get 35,000 season XP for your troubles.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Earlier this week, Humble Bundle launched the Summer Adventures Bundle, offering $174 worth of games for as little as $15. You should definitely check it out, but Humble Bundle also just kicked off a new sale centered on Square Enix games that's worth browsing. From now until July 16, you can save up to 50% on popular Square Enix games, including a bunch of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest titles.The Square Enix Publisher Promotion includes dozens of games, most of which are role-playing titles. Final Fantasy is heavily featured, with most mainline entries and several spin-offs on sale. If you haven't played the most recent mainline entry, Final Fantasy XV, you can grab it for $17.49. Meanwhile, all three Final Fantasy XIII games are available for cheap, with XIII down to $8, XIII-2 discounted to $10, and Lightning Returns at $10.It's a great opportunity to stock up on older Final Fantasy games, too. Final Fantasy III, IV, V, and VI are discounted to $8 each, and Final Fantasy X/X-X2 HD Remaster is down to an absolute steal at $15.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

You may have been playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons for months and perfected your idyllic island life, but now you can enter for a chance to do so while getting paid. A website is offering a "dream job" contest that will pay actual money to some lucky villager for playing 50 hours of the popular game.The site, HighSpeedInternet.com, is an Internet provider comparison tool, and the contest ostensibly revolves around testing your Internet connection--but New Horizons isn't exactly known for pushing your fiber connection to the limit. The grand prize is the "job" of playing 50 hours of Animal Crossing within about a month, at which point you'll get paid $1000--or $20 per hour for something you were probably going to do anyway.The full contest rules note that in this job you'll be considered an independent contractor, so you're not actually getting hired on by the site. You'll need to be 18 or older and a legal US resident. Plus you need to provide your own Nintendo Switch and game, and obviously, the contest isn't affiliated with Nintendo.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding releases July 14 on PC, but if you're in the market for a new graphics card, you can get it for free. From now until July 29, all purchases of Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics cards come with a free Steam code for Death Stranding. With games like Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 coming later this year, now might be a great time to upgrade your PC's hardware. If you've already got a great graphics card and just want to snag an excellent deal on the game, then Green Man Gaming has Death Stranding for only $46.79.Eligible graphics cards include the RTX 2080, RTX 2070, and RTX 2060 as well as all of their Super and Ti variants. You can see a list of participating retailers on Nvidia's website, though it's always wise to double-check that the retailer itself states you'll receive a free PC copy of Death Stranding.6479543 - RTX Graphics Cards - Death Stranding Promo RTX graphics cards Get Death Stranding free with purchase See options at Newegg Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Fortnite's creative mode, like Minecraft, is becoming a wonderful hub of imagination. One player has set out to create the entire world of Super Mario 64 within a single Fortnite map."I still have a long way to go, but I plan on re-creating as much of the game as possible," Redditor King Yoshi told GameSpot. He has several levels complete, including Peach's Castle, 'Bowser in the Red Sea', part of Whomp's Fortress, among others.Recreating other games within Fortnite has become a hobby for King Yoshi and other players. He's completely remade the map from Resident Evil 2, puzzles and zombies included, in Fortnite.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

As Disney's domestic theme parks get closer to opening, The Hollywood Reporter says the company is being accused of retaliating against a union of 750 Disney World performers demanding workers be tested for COVID-19 upon a rolling series of resort re-openings. Disney World is currently scheduled to partially re-open July 11, followed by Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios on July 15.However, Disney's reported response to the call for testing has been to "rescind all of its recall notices for Equity members," opting to reopen parks without those performers in the union.A statement issued by the union reads: "Since our public request that Disney test performers in the park, there have been more than 114,000 new coronavirus cases in Florida. Rather than agree to testing of performers, Disney has decided to retaliate against workers fighting for a safe workplace."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com