The latest Call of Duty from Infinity Ward shipped without an answer to Black Ops 4’s Blackout, but it has since been supplemented by Warzone--a completely standalone battle royale built off of the backbone of Modern Warfare. Not only is it a smarter way to ensure it's not tied to each annual release in the series, but Warzone gives the series its own identity within the competitive genre.It might not be apparent at first, though, especially when you take into consideration how much Warzone borrows from other popular battle royale games. It incorporates a ping system similar to the one in Apex Legends, letting you tag enemy positions, points of interest, and loot for teammates at the press of a button (albeit mapped to a button that's harder to reach quickly, mitigating some of its convenience). It plays out on a massive map akin to PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, where large swathes of open land are ripe for snipers while dense suburbs make for exhilarating and chaotic close-quarters skirmishes. And like the ones in Fortnite, color-coded chests overflowing with loot are easy to hunt down when you are within earshot of their signature emanating jingle.None of these competitors are defined solely by the elements Warzone borrows from them, and Warzone isn't defined by the sum of their parts. Instead, Warzone uses them to establish a solid foundation for its own distinct elements. It starts with a larger player count than the aforementioned battle royale games, with Warzone currently supporting up to 150 players per match, with modes for three-person squads or solo play. Having so many players active at once keeps you constantly on alert, but also increases the odds that you'll at least have some action (and likely a handful of kills) each match. This makes even some of the least successful drops feel worthwhile--even if your entire match lasts only a handful of minutes, you'll likely get some valuable time in with some weapons, better preparing you for another fight in the next match.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The number of people working from home is rising every day. It can be difficult transitioning into working within your home, especially if your office has a lot of the tools you need for your daily duties. One of them might even be a monitor, and while you may not need to plug your laptop into one to get your work done, they're a handy tool to have that increases your screen space and makes doing your work easier. To help make the transition easier, we've collected an assortment of the best budget monitors under $200, all of which feature free Amazon Prime shipping, so you don't have to leave the house to get your cheap display.Of course, while we're focusing on cheap monitors that are good for your daily work routine, many of these computer monitors are also great for gaming. Just keep in mind that they won't stack up against their more expensive counterparts--these are still budget PC monitors.Quick look: Best cheap monitors for working from homeContinue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

During Sony's Road to PS5 livestream, Mark Cerny laid out the core technical specs of the upcoming console, and why fans should be excited for the future of PlayStation. In addition to explaining the PS5's specs, and how the console's unique 825 GB SSD works, Sony's technical designer took some time to explain why the general focus on teraflops, a common topic over the previous years for the PS5 and Xbox Series X, is a bit misleading for general consumers.In this incredibly detailed dive into the PS5's architecture, Cerny explained that a teraflop is defined as "the computational capability of the vector ALU." This aspect of the system mainly comes down to one facet of the processing speed of the system's GPU (graphics processing unit), specifically for the time it takes to for the console to generate high-quality images. While you can focus on teraflops as a defining indicator of console performance, it's just one of many different factors at work for the platform's capabilities. Prior to the reveal, PS5's specs were detailed, revealing that the console's CPU possesses 8 Zen 2 cores, and the custom GPU with an RDNA 2 architecture can generate up to 10.28 TFLOPs of power. For comparison, the Xbox Series X's GPU can generate up to 12 teraflops--but Cerny made a point to clear the air on what teraflops can actually do for a console.During the presentation, Cerny took some time to stress that the focus on teraflops can be misleading, as the overall processing capabilities of the system take into account many other factors in addition to teraflops. Cerny made a point to show that 36 CU running at 1 GHz and 48 CU running 0.75 GHz both equate to 4.6 teraflops in power. This explanation helped serve the point that he preferred to look at the GPU's frequency rate when measuring the system's capabilities.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Destiny 2 will undergo background maintenance on Thursday starting at 12 AM ET / 9 AM PT, though the game will remain online for the entirety. The maintenance will roll out Hotfix 2.8.0.1. While the full patch notes for the hotfix are not yet available, a tweet from an official Bungie account revealed that it will disable Artifact Power in Trials of Osiris and Iron Banner.Over the past few weeks, some fans have expressed concerns that the much-heralded return of Trials is ruined by a seasonal artifact that allows players to grind PvE content in order to boost their power level. Players feel that such measures are anti-competitive. "If these rules were in chess, then it would not be about who is the best chess player, it would be about who goes to the gym more often, who practises their punches the best," wrote one Reddit user.This isn't the only unfortunate trend rocking Destiny 2 at the moment. Earlier this month, players reported getting kicked from Gambit matches for no apparent reason. The community eventually figured out that the bug is caused by players levelling up their season pass during a match. It's not clear when this bug will be squashed, however. The new Trials of Osiris will kick off Friday at the game's weekend reset at 1 PM ET / 10 AM PT.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Only true heads of the late '90s gaming era remember Shadow Man, the bizarre voodoo-themed action-adventure game from 1999. While Nightdive Studios republished the original version of the game back in 2014, the studio has decided to give the game a full graphical overhaul.This new version will use Nightdive's KEX engine, which they've used in several other games. The remaster will feature improved shadow mapping, per pixel lighting, post-processing effects like antialiasing, and missing content cut from the original game. Shadow Man Remastered will come to PC via Steam and GOG, as well as PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch. The release date remains under wraps, however.While some fans fondly remember Shadow Man, we weren't particularly impressed by it back in 1999. In our mixed review, Erik Wolpaw called the game "generally unexceptional."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The highly-anticipated cutesy life-sim Animal Crossing: New Horizons launches this Friday, March 20 on Nintendo Switch. If you're wondering when Tom Nook will invite you to hang out on the game's new deserted island, Switch owners only need to check Nintendo's support FAQ to see when New Horizons unlocks.According to Nintendo, certain games available for pre-purchase will become playable at 9 PM PT / 12 AM ET on the day the game is scheduled to go live. This is a policy instated across the entirety of the Eshop and not specific to New Horizons. However, Nintendo does make it clear that "some third-party titles are not available until 12 PM PT" on the day the game is supposed to come out. Being a first-party game, however, we can expect New Horizons to be available at 9 PM PT on Thursday, March 19.Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available to pre-load right now after you pre-order it on Nintendo Switch. You can check out our New Horizons pre-order guide to learn about the available bonuses. An update for New Horizons is scheduled to go live later today, but the contents of the 1.1.0 patch remain a mystery.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

During Sony's very technical and equally insightful stream revealing the specifications of the PlayStation 5, lead system architect Mark Cerny stated that external SSDs that will be compatible with the new console likely won't be ready until sometime after launch.During his explanation of the custom SSD that the PS5 uses, Cerny explained that PCIe 4.0-based drives with the bandwidth required to match that of Sony's aren't available to the consumer market yet. By his estimations, drives will be fast enough by the end of the year, but even then, the PS5's reliance on specific architectural requirements might mean they still won't be suitable.Specifically, PCIe 4.0-based drives that deliver only two priority levels to developers, as is standard with the current NVME specification. The PS5 SSD, by comparison, offers six priority levels, with Cerny explaining that vetted third-party SSDs will need to meet certain speed thresholds to be compatible. As a result, it might be a while before you'll be able to expand your SSD storage.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Square Enix, after assessing the global impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, is still moving forward with Final Fantasy VII Remake's April 10 release date on PlayStation 4. However, the company has stated that the virus's spread may cause the game's distribution to get caught up, causing issues for those seeking physical copies.According to a statement from FFVII Remake's official Twitter, "the unforeseeable changes in the distribution and retail landscape" has increased the likelihood that fans may not get their physical copies of the game on April 10. Square Enix said it will provide more information on March 20.This comes amid a similar scenario to the releases of Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Doom Eternal, in which retail chain GameStop has cancelled the midnight launches of these two games in response to growing concerns over the coronavirus. Both titles launch this Friday, March 20.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in the cancellation of soccer play around much of the world, and this has also affected FIFA 20. The Team of the Week feature for FIFA Ultimate Team has been temporarily replaced by Team of the Week Moments to keep players invested during the downtime.Team of the Week Moments takes historical results from past FIFA Ultimate Team titles, but players' statistics and teams will still be based on their current upgrade path. The squads themselves will be reflections of Team of the Week squads from March onward in specific past years in order to distinguish them from more recent FIFA 20 Team of the Week squads."When thinking about a replacement for TOTW, we wanted to build something that is authentic to football and that is compatible with TOTW if we are able to reintroduce it later this year," the development team said in an update post.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Update: A Microsoft spokesperson tells GameSpot that the official website listing an Xbox Series X release date was a mistake. Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb shared an identical message on Twitter, saying, "An Xbox product page in some regions inaccurately listed the launch date for Xbox Series X as Thanksgiving 2020. We are committed to launching Holiday 2020." The original story follows.An Xbox product page in some regions inaccurately listed the launch date for Xbox Series X as Thanksgiving 2020. We are committed to launching Holiday 2020 — Larry Hryb 🦉✨ (@majornelson) March 18, 2020Xbox Series X was previously announced to be launching during the Holiday 2020 period, but now we have what appears to be a more precise date: Thanksgiving 2020, which falls on November 26.That's according to a minor detail updated on a regional Xbox website; as of this moment, the US version still reads "Holiday 2020." Microsoft is set to host an Xbox Series X-focused stream as part of its digital GDC replacement event today, so it's possible more will be shared there. This news comes on the heels of Sony's tech-centric PS5 specs stream earlier today.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

During The Road to PS5 livestream, PlayStation 5 lead system architect Mark Cerny discussed the specs for Sony's next-gen console, including backwards compatibility and SSD load times. When it comes to audio, the PS5 will utilize 3D audio technology, allowing you to better determine an in-game item or enemy's location in relevance to you based on the sound that it makes. So, like if a monster is sneaking up on you from behind, you'll have a better idea as to it's specific location as opposed to the general direction.When it comes to audio on PS5, Sony has three goals. "The first goal was great audio for everyone--not just for VR users or sound bar owners or headphone users," Cerny said. "That meant audio had to be part of the console, it couldn't be a peripheral. The second goal was to support hundreds of sound sources. We didn't want developers to have to pick and choose what sounds would get 3D effects and which wouldn't. We wanted every sound in the game to have dimensionality."The third goal is more deeply tied to immersion, and it's the one that's going to help make it a little easier to play survival horror games, battle royale games, and other types of games that are heavily dependent on locating a target through sound. "We wanted to really take on the challenges of presence and locality," Cerny said. "Now, when we say presence, we mean the feeling that you're actually there--you've entered the Matrix. It's not of course, something we thought we could perfectly achieve. The idea was that if we stopped using just a rain sound, and instead used lots of 3D audio sources for raindrops hitting the ground and all sorts of locations around you, then at some point your brain would take a leap and you'd begin to have this feeling--this feeling of real presence inside the virtual world of the game."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, has changed a lot in the past couple of months. In addition to the obvious impact it's had on the general population, the numerous casualties, and the overwhelming pressure it's placed on healthcare workers, the coronavirus has also hit the game industry and the entertainment industry in unprecedented ways.Major conferences like E3 have been canceled or postponed, things are getting delayed, and offices worldwide are asking employees to work from home. Now with the rise in shelter-in-place orders and many parts of the United States closing down "non-essential" businesses like restaurants, clubs, and other social venues, there are even more people stuck at home without a clear indication of how long this will all last.Screenshot from Kind Words (lo fi chill beats to write to), available on Steam and itch.io.While those lucky enough to be able to telecommute might be able to keep busy most of the day, people currently out of work, stuck homeschooling or being homeschooled, or self-isolating for health reasons now suddenly have a lot of time to occupy. Escapism isn't always the best medicine, but it can be a temporary relief from the uncertainty of our current situation.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Back at E3 2019, Nintendo revealed that Animal Crossing: New Horizons will be one of the few Switch games not to support Nintendo Switch Online's cloud save function. According to the company, the reason for this is to prevent players from cheating, and now director Aya Kyogoku has elaborated further on the impact it would have had on the game.Speaking to IGN, Kyogoku explained that New Horizons does not support cloud saves because players could exploit that feature to multiply their bells or items. "It messes with the economy of Animal Crossing by getting the items or bells as much as they want," Kyogoku explained.While New Horizons does not support cloud saves, Nintendo will give players some way to recover their data in certain instances. Nintendo Switch Online subscribers will be able to recover their save data from the server should their Nintendo Switch become lost or damaged. During last month's Animal Crossing-focused Direct, a disclaimer said data could only be recovered one time, but that caveat has since been removed from the video, so it's unclear if there will be a limit.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The massive fighting game tournament Evo Championship Series (Evo) is scheduled to begin this July, and despite the ongoing threat of coronavirus, its organizers are not cancelling yet.In a post on Twitter, Evo organizers said they are monitoring the outbreak and are monitoring updates from local agencies as well as the World Health Organization and Center for Disease Control to best assess the situation. As of now, the Mandalay Bay Resort where Evo was scheduled to be held has closed, and Evo's organizers are assuming it will be open by the July 31 start date.Planned game tournaments for Evo 2020 include Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Street Fighter V: Champion Edition, Granblue Fantasy Versus, Samurai Shodown, Tekken 7, Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[cl-r], and SoulCalibur VI. Last year's Mortal Kombat 11 is not included.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Considering that state governments are asking people to not gather in large crowds because of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, movie studios are releasing movies a whole lot earlier to the digital market, considering no one can or should go to the theater right now. The latest movie to arrive early is the superhero movie Bloodshot.The film, which is in theaters now, will have a digital release on Tuesday, March 24 through various retailers like Movies Anywhere, Google Play, Vudu, and iTunes. Bloodshot only just arrived in theaters on March 13."Sony Pictures is firmly committed to theatrical exhibition and we support windowing," Sony Pictures chairman Tom Rothman said in a statement (via The Hollywood Reporter). "This is a unique and exceedingly rare circumstance where theaters have been required to close nationwide for the greater good and Bloodshot is abruptly unavailable in any medium. Audiences will now have the chance to own Bloodshot right away and see it at home, where we are all spending more time. We are confident that--like other businesses hit hard by the virus--movie theaters will bounce back strongly, and we will be there to support them."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com