The big Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone Season 4 Reloaded update is scheduled for 11 PM PT on June 29, but developer Infinity Ward has posted the patch notes ahead of time.The update includes a new limited-time mode with 200-player Warzone Quads, while it also introduces new Supply Run Contracts. There is also a new Spotter Scope item that will help snipers move through the map without flashing the familiar "glint" that exposes their location.This big new Modern Warfare/Warzone update also makes a series of weapon balance changes. The AX-50 sniper rifle now has an increased damage range, while the HDR sniper now delivers a guaranteed one-hit kill when you land a shot to the lower torso from any range. The Dragunov sniper rifle now has faster aim-down-sight (ADS) speed, while it fires faster as well.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

There are a lot of reasons to take a look at West of Dead. Cowboys and Wild West aesthetics are hot in games right now, in the wake of Red Dead Redemption 2. Run-based games are, likewise, very much a structure du jour. It's dusted with voiceover narration from Ron Perlman, who you might know from Guillermo Del Toro's Hellboy films or the FX TV Show Sons of Anarchy. And it certainly doesn't hurt that its core mechanical conceit, as a cover-based twin-stick shooter, helps Frankenstein it to original and, dare I say, innovative gameplay. Unfortunately, West of Dead is a textbook case of a half-baked concept: Though its big sweeping ideas work well, the minutiae, from scaling the difficulty of encounters to unrefined enemies and plain old technical issues, threaten to undo the experience at any time.West of Dead's conceit builds up a simple but interesting little tale. In Purgatory--which is apparently in Wyoming--the dead have stopped filtering "east" to heaven or "west" to hell. You play an undead cowboy called the Marshall who's lost his memory, save for his mission to kill the evil preacher holding up the afterlife. Though it's more narrative glue than captivating storytelling, the Marshall's inner monologue, in subdued performance from Perlman, keeps the story in mind, evoking a world that you might not see in its generic, monotonous Wild West-themed levels.Like so many of today's Rogue-inspired games, the story naturally falls away at a certain point, as you play and replay the game over and over, attempting to reach your goal. West of Dead retains many of the tropes established by the many, many rogue-lites that have launched in the last few years, and it cribs its structure specifically from 2018's wildly successful version, Dead Cells. West of Dead procedurally generates long levels, which are punctuated with a store where you must spend Sin points to permanently expand your arsenal of weapons. In each run, you find upgrades to your specs and more powerful gear--two weapons, two accessories, and a passive charm. By defeating optional bosses, you gain access to branching paths with harder levels. You carry an upgradable healing flask, which you refill between levels. There's even a hall at the start of each run where you can see all the weapons and upgrades you've bought. Though it comes dangerously close to getting branded as a "Dead Cells clone," using familiar structure makes it easy to focus on West of Dead's combat, where its real innovations lie.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

High-profile Twitch streamer Herschel "Guy" Beahm IV (better known as Dr Disrespect) has been banned from the livestreaming platform yet again. And this time, it may be permanent, rather than a temporary matter involving a DMCA. Beahm himself said he is unsure of why he was banned. However, others on Twitter claim the reason could be very serious and is not because of a copyright claim. It's unclear exactly why or how long Dr Disrespect will be banned. Following news of the ban Dr Disrespect did not say anything publicly about the situation, and searching for his Twitch account yielded no results. However, on June 27, a day after news of the ban broke, Beahm broke his silence and posted an update on Twitter, addressing his fans. According to the streamer, Twitch has not provided him with any specific reason for the ban.Champions Club,Twitch has not notified me on the specific reason behind their decision... Firm handshakes to all for the support during this difficult time.-Dr Disrespect — Dr Disrespect (@drdisrespect) June 28, 2020Twitch itself has offered no specific explanation for the move publicly. Of course, this has left room for speculation. Some have suggested that it could be the result of a DMCA takedown (of which there has been a flurry recent). However, this would ordinarily result in a temporary ban.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The Metal Slug series has been missing in action for more than a decade, with ports and re-releases the only mainline games fans of SNK's run-and-gun franchise have had to get excited about. That's changing soon, however, as SNK and developer Timi Studios are currently working on a new entry for mobile devices. Somewhat surprisingly, the game actually looks like it could stick to what make the classic Metal Slug games so popular.Metal Slug Code: J, which is only a working title for the game, is a sidescrolling shooter like the rest of the series, and it has virtual buttons on the screen as well as an analog stick to handle shooting, aiming, and movement, along with other actions. In a game as frantic as Metal Slug, it remains to be seen if this will be effective, but the art style and music both appear to be spot-on for the series.Vehicles are also available, giving extra firepower and armor when you come across one in a level, and this will be necessary for dealing with some of the game's more powerful bosses.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Oh yeah, Mario time? Not quite yet, as according to a new report, Universal Studios Japan has delayed the opening of its Super Nintendo World area because of COVID-19 concerns. This is despite the section of the park being almost completely finished, but fans will have to wait to collect coins and race around the Mushroom Kingdom.According to the Business Times, an official announcement will come this week and the plan is still for the area to open before the end of 2020. The park is based in Osaka, and Nintendo is hoping to have it open before the Tokyo Olympics begin. These were also delayed from Summer 2020 to 2021 well before Nintendo's reported delay.Universal Studios Japan's Nintendo park is not the only one being built. There will also be areas built at Universal Studios Orlando and Hollywood, though they may not have the exact same attractions. Mario Kart and Yoshi rides appear to be part of the attractions, and there are also spinning coins that you can "collect" with a magnetic bracelet. There will likely be some sort of interaction with your Nintendo Switch console after collecting these coins, as well, but it hasn't been detailed yet.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

If this episode of New Releases is any indication, you won't run out of new video games to play anytime soon. We're taking a look at the month of July, which kicks off with Marvel's Iron Man VR. You can also take to the skies in Rocket Arena just over a week after that. July is also time to protect your land, whether it's an occupied island in Ghost of Tsushima or the Mushroom Kingdom in Paper Mario: The Origami King. Finally, the month wraps up with the Destroy All Humans remake.Marvel's Iron Man VR -- July 3Available on: PS4After a few delays, Iron Man VR is finally giving us a chance to step into Tony Stark's suit. As you'd expect, the HUD inside the PSVR headset resembles Stark's FRIDAY technology, and you can use the Move Controllers to aim and fire your various weapons. Expect to see other Marvel staples like Nick Fury in the story too.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The Last of Us Part II is a huge sales success, but developer Naughty Dog won't follow it up with any DLC. Writer-director Neil Druckmann told Kinda Funny that The Last of Us Part II won't have any story DLC. The 2013 original game had story DLC in the very well received Left Behind, which was part of the game's Season Pass, but there are "no plans" for anything similar for the sequel."No, with Last of Us I think we had some Season Pass or something that said ahead of time we have some story DLC--no there's no plans for that [with The Last of Us Part II]," Druckmann said.While The Last of Us Part II seemingly won't have any story DLC, Naughty Dog will expand the game with a multiplayer mode of some kind in the future. Naughty Dog has said the game will get a separate online experience down the road through some kind of standalone title.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Xbox marketing director Aaron Greenberg has responded to a recent internet discussion around the possibility of Fable 4 and a new Perfect Dark game. Greenberg said on Twitter that he understands people are "hungry for news" in the lead-up to the Xbox Series X first-party games showcase in July, but he acknowledged that you shouldn't get too excited for those unannounced games.Newly discovered placeholder Twitter accounts for "Fable" and "Perfect Dark Game" are not what they seem to be, Greenberg said. He pointed out that these accounts have been inactive "for years." The executive also mentioned that it's standard operating procedure for Microsoft to register social accounts for its franchises, even if the company has no plans for announcements around them.I know everyone is hungry for news, but sorry to get your hopes up. These accounts have been inactive for years, it’s standard practice to secure social handles for our IP. — Aaron Greenberg 🙅🏼‍♂️❎ (@aarongreenberg) June 28, 2020The Perfect Dark account was created by a fan. Xbox veteran Ken Lobb, whose name is the inspiration for the Klobb weapon in GoldenEye, followed the account, which led people to believe it might be the genuine article. However, it's only a fan account. The owner said they would give it up to Microsoft if they asked, but that doesn't appear to have happened yet.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The actor who plays the Black character Cleveland Brown on Family Guy, Mike Henry, has announced he's stepping down from voicing the role on Fox's long-running animated show. Writing on Twitter, Henry--who is white--said, "I love this character, but persons of color should play characters of color."Henry also voices the Latina maid Consuela on Family Guy. On the spin-off program The Cleveland Show, Henry voices Cleveland and his Black stepson Rallo Tubbs. Since this announcement was just made, there is no word on how things might move forward and if Fox will recast the role on Family Guy. The Cleveland Show was canceled in 2013. It’s been an honor to play Cleveland on Family Guy for 20 years. I love this character, but persons of color should play characters of color. Therefore, I will be stepping down from the role. pic.twitter.com/FmKasWITKT — Mike Henry (@mikehenrybro) June 26, 2020Henry is just the latest big-name white actor to step down from voicing a character of color on an animated TV show. The Simpsons veteran Hank Azaria will no longer voice Apu, Carl, and Akira, among other non-white characters. The Simpsons producers have committed to wider changes to their casting. In the future, The Simpsons will no longer have white actors voicing non-white characters.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The Simpsons, which is scheduled to begin airing Season 32 later in 2020, will no longer be using white actors to voice people of color.In a statement delivered by the show's producers, as reported by Entertainment Weekly, it was said that the show "will no longer have white actors voice non-white characters." This follows an earlier decision between the producers and voice actor Hank Azaria to recast the character of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, an Indian character. It has not been announced who will voice the character going forward yet.Other characters that will need to be recast going forward include Apu's wife Manjula, Dr. Hibbert and his family, Lou, Cookie Kwan, Drederick Tatum, and Bumblebee Man. It's not a long list, with Apu standing as, by far, the show's most prominent non-white character.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The final instalment in Microsoft's Halo Infinite behind-the-scenes series of videos about the game's audio and sound has been released, and it's a delight.The video shows off a cute little pug named Buddy whose owner is a program manager at developer 343 Industries. The very good boy came into the studio where he chomped down on snacks and scruffed around, all of which was captured for sounds to be used in the next-gen Halo game. View this post on InstagramA post shared by Halo (@halo) on Jun 27, 2020 at 6:01am PDTBuddy is, in fact, that the second pug to have their sounds recorded into Halo Infinite. In September 2019, 343 showcased the recording process for a cute little pug named Gyoza. Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

In The Last of Us Part II, guitars are used as a symbolic tool to show the bond between Joel and Ellie, with several songs popping up in cutscenes. Guitars even appear as playable objects, and it's possible for experienced musicians to recreate songs on Ellie's in-game guitar. But one thing has remained unclear--how is Joel able to perform a song in-game that would have never been released in his world because of the outbreak?In an early cutscene, Joel performs a cover of Pearl Jam's Future Days, which appeared on the album Lightning Bolt. This album released on October 15, 2013--several weeks after September 26, 2013, which is Outbreak Day in the world of The Last of Us Part II. So how did Joel know a song that never got released?According to director Neil Druckmann, it's simple--the song was performed live at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois on July 19, and Joel saw a video of it on YouTube.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

NBA Jam remains one of the most beloved basketball game of all time, 27 years after its initial arcade release. If you were on one side of the Chicago Bulls/Detroit Pistons rivalry of the 90s, though, the game perhaps has endured slightly less well in your memory, because you know in your heart that you were robbed.As it turns out, you actually might have been. In a new video from Ars Technica about the success of NBA Jam, lead designer Mark Turmell has reflected on the rivalry between the Chicago and Detroit teams during Michael Jordan's iconic 90s run with the Bulls--and admitted that his internal bias worked its way into the game.In the video below, around the 19:40 mark, Turmell admits that he was a big Pistons fan, having grown up in Michigan, and that he snuck some code into the game to "get back" at the Chicago Bulls and their fans.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

It's been widely reported that Microsoft is planning to release a second next-generation Xbox that is less powerful and lacks a physical media drive. Now, another report says that's not entirely true.The Verge's Tom Warren, who is known for accurately reporting on unannounced Microsoft products, has stated that the CPU for the less-expensive next-gen Xbox is "the same speed as the Series X." The console will have a different GPU frequency and CU count, however, Warren reported.The second next-generation Xbox, rumored to be called the Xbox Series S, will have 7.5 GB of usable RAM, according Warren, and this is less than the Series X. Warren went on to say that this second console will target a resolution of up to 1440p, compared to 4K for the Xbox Series X.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Of all the games shown off during the PlayStation 5 reveal event, the one that has stuck in a lot of people's heads is Bugsnax--not just because of its cute aesthetic or interesting-looking gameplay, but because of its theme song. Aside from all the critters shown off, the trailer's most prominent bug was an earworm.The game, which is also coming to PS4 and PC and is developed by Young Horses (Octodad: Dadliest Catch), enlisted indie band Kero Kero Bonito to compose the song. In a new post on the PlayStation Blog, song-writer Gus Lobban has talked about how the catchy tune was written.The song, which is called It's Bugsnax!, was recorded from home, and Lobban says that the starting point was "the D-Am chords the song rests on". There's a lot of technical discussion in this post, by Lobban also digs into the themes and mood he was going for. "The I-Vm chord change and the Mixolydian mode it implies conjure a 'lost world' atmosphere to me," he says. "Positive, but with a definite note (pun intended) of mystical intrigue, much like Bugsnax itself."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com