One of the biggest sales events of the year for PC gamers is in full swing right now: Steam Summer Sale 2020 kicked off Thursday, June 25, and will run until July 9, offering literally thousands of discounts on some of the platform's best games. It's hard to beat many of those deals right now, and you should definitely check out all of the best Steam games on sale right now, but it's worth keeping in mind that some of these games are cheaper elsewhere. And we're not talking about different launchers like Rockstar, Uplay, or Epic--no, we're talking about officially licensed Steam codes from legit stores like Fanatical and Green Man Gaming. For games like Borderlands 3 or Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, you may actually want to look elsewhere than Steam itself. You'll still even get to add the games to your Steam library but will save money in the process. The standouts include Borderlands 3, which is cheaper for all three editions at Green Man Gaming. The standard edition is $27 ($30 on Steam), while Deluxe edition is down to $36 ($40 on Steam) and the Super Deluxe edition is $45 ($50 on Steam). If you've been looking to get into Civilization VI (which you definitely should, because it's fantastic), the Platinum edition is just $40.53 at Fanatical compared to $47.43 on Steam. With a normal list price of $120, this is the best version to buy as you'll get all the expansions and DLC.Resident Evil 3's PC version is also the cheapest we've seen it at Fanatical right now, selling for $33 as opposed to nearly $40 on Steam. If you held off when the game launched at $60 just a couple of months ago, here's a great chance to nab it for nearly 50% off (a more reasonable price, in my opinion, for the relatively short game).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. The details of the controversy remain mostly a mystery, but they are reportedly bigger than something like a copyright violation and the personality has remained quiet thus far.It's unclear exactly why or how long Dr. Disrespect will be banned. Dr. Disrespect has not said anything publicly about the situation, and searching for his Twitch account pulls no results. Twitch itself has offered no specific explanation for the move, although some have speculated that it could be the result of a DMCA takedown (of which there has been a flurry recent), which may only result in a temporary ban.We've reached out to Twitch for comment, but were given the same generic statement Twitch already offered the wider community: "As is our process, we take appropriate action when we have evidence that a streamer has acted in violation of our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service. These apply to all streamers regardless of status or prominence in the community."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The Isle of Armor--the setting of Pokemon Sword and Shield's first expansion--is home to more than 100 returning Pokemon not found in mainland Galar. When you first arrive, you'll be given a separate, island-specific Pokedex with which to catalog all of the newly added monsters, and some nice rewards await if you can catch 'em all. Here's what you get for completing the Pokedex. Isle of Armor spoilers follow.Isle Of Armor Pokedex RewardsAfter you catalog all 210 Pokemon in the Isle of Armor Pokedex, you'll need to return to the Armor Station in the Fields of Honor and speak with the scientist who first gave it to you. Show her the completed Pokedex and you'll receive a certificate commemorating your achievement, along with a couple of neat rewards.First is the Mark Charm, a brand-new item that increases the likelihood that you'll encounter marked Pokemon. These marks are displayed alongside Ribbons on the Pokemon's summary screen and give that monster a special title when you send it out into battle. On top of that, you'll receive the Replica Gold Crown, which your trainer will be able to wear in place of a hat. You can take a look at the rewards below.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.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

It was the biggest match of Leaf's Super Smash Bros. career, and her Lucas was one of the best in the game. All that stood in her way on the path to the tournament crown was a nasty Ridley player in a two-stock match. Leaf quickly dispatched Ridley's first life by luring them to the map's edge. But, immediately after respawning, Ridley knocked Lucas off the stage in a bold attempt to even the odds. Ridley then rushed forward to try and spike Lucas into oblivion, but whiffed the killing blow. Leaf quickly readjusted Lucas and gave Ridley a spike of their own, sealing the first-place finish.Leaf, who prefers to go by her in-game tag, claimed victory in the Smash tournament, but she didn't actually play in the match--her Amiibo did. Leaf is an Amiibo trainer: she "trains" an AI-controlled fighter, Lucas in this case, by playing against it in matches. But when Lucas competes in tournaments, it does so all on its own. Leaf can only watch and hope she's prepared her Amiibo enough ahead of time whenever it goes to battle in the small, weird world of competitive Amiibo fighting.Esports has become a booming industry with a huge number of players and spectators, but around the fringes of the games that get major attention, like League of Legends and Call of Duty, are the smaller, weirder competitions. Some well-known competitive games have smaller communities that focus on different aspects from the major competitors, such as with the Amiibo trainers or Rocket League hockey players. Other games that get little attention have thriving groups of competitors, like that of Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy dualists. These groups rely on their own organization and programming ability to create the competitions they want without support from the mainstream.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

In our first hands-on preview of Cyberpunk 2077, Tamoor Hussain lamented the relative lack of humanity he witnessed in the game's main questline as he played through the opening hours as a street kid. After all, in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the most impactful stories were often the smaller, more intimate ones. He eventually found a glimpse of that in a sidequest involving two monk brothers and their vow of non-violence, which complicated a rescue mission with grey decisions.With the benefit of this knowledge and my own Cyberpunk 2077 demo to play, I went in with the express purpose of trying to find more of those glimpses. Above and beyond CD Projekt Red's proven ability to create complex, humane storytelling, the cyberpunk genre itself is attractive because of its portrayal of its people and communities in an extreme future. As David Rayfield wrote back in 2018 (around the time when CD Projekt began to tease Cyberpunk's resurfacing after a long silence), cyberpunk media draws us in with its cool-as-hell aesthetic, but the best cyberpunk stories "reveal to us modern society's worst tendencies and offenders."And so I went into the opening hours of Cyberpunk 2077 with these questions in my head: How does 2077 use and play with cyberpunk conventions? What stories does 2077 want to tell outside its grandiose main questline? Does 2077 actually feel like a cyberpunk world beyond its flashy tech and neon-soaked Asian-inspired aesthetic? The results were... a little mixed.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Several years ago, Dead Island and Dying Light developer Techland announced the first-person fantasy combat game Hellraid. It was set to be a violent and brutal action game and even received a puzzle spinoff title for mobile, but it was ultimately shelved as Techland moved forward with Dying Light 2. However, it will live on as DLC for Dying Light, and you'll be able to play the new content next month.Out July 23 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, Dying Light: Hellraid is accessed through an eerie arcade machine within the Tower in Dying Light. You're sent directly to Hell after using the machine and can battle against demons using axes, hammers, and swords. The DLC has its own Hellraid rank as well as bounties that you can complete for additional rewards.As with the main game, you can play Dying Light: Hellraid either cooperatively or solo. Up to four players can slaughter demons together.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

One of the best parts of Pokemon Sword and Shield was exploring the Wild Area, an expanse of rolling hills, sand dunes, and lakes that made collecting the games' 400 Pokemon especially enticing. The first DLC for the games, The Isle of Armor, improves upon the original Wild Area--in fact, the island is all Wild Area, with far more variety and much more interesting locales to explore. While it doesn't alter the game much, The Isle of Armor recaptures the joy of exploration and catching new Pokemon, and it makes me especially eager to see where the next DLC takes us.In my original Pokemon Sword and Shield review, I said that "the Wild Area is the show-stopping feature of this generation. Pokemon roam the fields and lakes, changing with the day's weather. They pop up as you walk by, and you can even identify Pokemon out of your direct line of vision by their cries. It's all too easy to set out for one destination only to be distracted by a Pokemon you haven't caught yet, an item glittering on the ground in the distance, or even an evolved form of a Pokemon that you didn't realize you could catch in the wild. There's constantly something new to do or discover, and it's there to engage you right out of the gate."Me and Kubfu enjoying the sights.The Isle of Armor doubles down on this. The island is bigger and better than the regular Wild Area, and its various biomes all feed into each other more naturally. Open fields transition to wetlands, which border a beach and a forest. Rivers flow out to the ocean, and following a river can sometimes lead you to a cave. Changing weather patterns make more sense than they do in the Galar region's main Wild Area, too, where weather shifts seemingly at random as you bike through similar-looking fields. Instead, because most areas on the Isle of Armor are separated by rivers or caves, the transition from rain to sunshine to fog isn't so abrupt. It's overall an even more satisfying place to explore.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Remastered is coming in August, and when it releases you won't necessarily need a copy of the game to start dungeon-crawling with your friends. Square Enix has announced that a free demo for the game that will give you access to a handful of dungeons, as well as let you play with those who have purchased the full game.The demo will be called Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Remastered "Lite." As explained by a new trailer, Lite players will be able to play three dungeons, and since the game is based on co-op, you can team up with up to three other Lite players. If a player with the full game hosts by inviting others to their caravan, Lite players can join in all 13 dungeons for free.Both the full game and the Lite demo will have cross-platform play across Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and mobile devices. Plus any progress you make in the Lite version will carry over to the full game.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The first of Fortnite's Movie Nite events took place this morning, allowing players to watch a full-length Christopher Nolan movie from inside the game. For those in the United States, that movie is Inception, and I watched a significant chunk of it myself, only to find it was a far less strange experience than I had imagined.The showing happens inside Fortnite Party Royale, a playlist introduced earlier this year that disables combat and throws players onto a smaller, custom island with a variety of activities that don't involve shooting each other. If you haven't jumped into this mode before, it's a bit confusing as to where you need to go, but look around and you'll quickly see spotlights in the distance calling attention to The Big Screen. As I approached and could see a corner of the screen from around a rock, I was worried the quality of the video would be low, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it was actually quite smooth, with no stutter or issues to report.Inception on Fortnite's Big Screen (with party names cropped out)Of course, the logistics of watching something on a screen in a third-person game required an adjustment period. A series of small, ascending cliffs are located in front of the screen, and you need to position your camera in such a way that you're not blocking the screen--something other players wandering by or paragliding in front of the screen did a few times. There are also elements of the HUD on screen by default, including your fellow party members and inventory selection, although from the distance I was watching, they never got in the way. There was no option to take the film full-screen, probably because that would defeat the purpose of this unique experience.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Netflix has released a new behind-the-scenes trailer for its upcoming animated series The Cuphead Show, offering a quick peek into the show's tone and art style.The 46-second clip was tweeted out early Friday. You can watch it for yourself down below.Take an inside peek at the intricate, nostalgic design of The Cuphead Show! pic.twitter.com/EF0kpAi973 — NX (@NXOnNetflix) June 26, 2020The Cuphead Show is an animated offering adapting 2017's wildly popular video game Cuphead, which was a mash-up of sorts of Contra run-and-gun action featuring a Betty Boop art style. The video game was developed and published by the Canadian video-game developer StudioMDHR, and featured hand-drawn animations and painstakingly watercolor-painted backgrounds. The show's creative crew promises to continue the tradition of meticulous animation and presentational flair, boasting--as the trailer indicates--"a ragtag tribe of enthusiastic artists and animators."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

If you're not one of the 4 million PS4 owners who purchased The Last of Us Part 2 in the past week, you have a chance to join the party at a discount right now. Up until now, The Last of Us 2 has always sold at its full $60 price, and to be honest, it's surprising to see a PS4 exclusive like TLOU 2 discounted at all this soon after release. Rakuten has The Last of Us 2 for $48.49 with promo code GAL5, but you probably don't have very long to take advantage of this great offer. See at Rakuten To get the deal, you need to sign up for a free Rakuten membership, and then enter the promo code a checkout. Without a membership, you'll get The Last of Us 2 for $53.49, so you should obviously complete the quick registration process. The only downside to this deal is that the shipping window (July 1-10) is rather wide, but you do get free shipping.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Minecraft Dungeons is getting even more dungeons next week. The first DLC, Jungle Awakens, will be released on July 1, packing a bunch of new gear and mobs along with a free update that includes a new dungeon.According to the announcement, the free update will come with the Lost Temple dungeon, new items, and game balance changes. Meanwhile, the Jungle Awakens DLC includes new weapons, armor, and artifacts, along with three new story missions. You'll be faced with new enemies like the Leapleaf and Whisperer, and face off against a new Jungle Abomination boss.A handful of screenshots teasing the DLC show off some of the new gear and enemies, as well as the addition of pandas. The announcement also notes that the Dungeons soundtrack was recently released.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

New Releases highlights the top video games launching each week, and this one is loaded with cartoon action thanks to SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle For Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated and Ninjala. You can also revisit Borderlands 3 thanks to the new expansion Bounty of Blood - A Fistful of Redemption, while Xbox One gamers can finally get their hands on The Foundation DLC for Control. Finally, Night Call is getting a console launch.SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle For Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated -- June 23Available on: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PCThis remaster of the original Battle for Bikini Bottom doesn't just look better--it also includes includes content cut from the original game. You can even play an all-new multiplayer mode with both cooperative and competitive modes. PS4 Pro and Xbox One X owners can see the sponge in shiny 4K resolution too.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Given the year is now 2020, you likely don't expect to see a lot of new games coming for Wii or Wii U, save for perhaps the obligatory ports of the latest entry in Ubisoft's Just Dance series. However, in news that will have you checking to make sure it's not April 1, a new, non-Just Dance game is on the way for the two Nintendo consoles that preceded the Switch, and it's releasing quite soon.The game is Shakedown: Hawaii, a retro-style open-world action game in the vein of the early Grand Theft Auto entries. It originally released on a number of platforms last year--notably including PlayStation Vita--but is now coming to Wii and Wii U seemingly due to a random impulse on the part of the developer."Like most of my ports, Shakedown: Hawaii on Wii began one Friday night on a whim of curiosity," wrote developer Vblank. "Perhaps a jolt of Wii nostalgia rushed through me that evening, but I suddenly wondered... how long would it actually take to port? How would it feel to play with a Wii Remote? How would it look in 4:3? Would it hit 60 FPS right off the bat, or need optimization? I had many questions, but as soon as I held that Wii Remote and started playing, I knew I wanted to take it to the finish line."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com