The latest weekly update for Fortnite: Battle Royale has arrived. Patch 6.30 is now live across PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices, bringing the recently teased Mounted Turret weapon to the game and kicking off another brand-new Limited-Time Mode called Food Fight.
The new team-based LTM pits Fortnite’s two biggest in-game restaurants, Durrr Burger and Pizza Pit, against each other in a fight for culinary supremacy. The object here is to destroy the other team’s mascot. For the first several minutes of each match, the map is separated by an impenetrable barrier. Your side will need to use this time to construct a fort around your own mascot and protect it from the other team.
Once the barrier drops, Food Fight becomes an all-out battle, with a few special conditions. Epic has increased the amount of building resources you can find on the ground for this LTM, while explosives and items have been removed. Additionally, players who are eliminated will respawn after seven seconds and retain their inventory. Players will also spawn a portion of their inventory, along with other materials, as loot when they are eliminated.
You can find more details on the Food Fight LTM in the patch notes shared on Epic’s website. The developer hasn’t announced how long this mode will be live in Battle Royale, but previous LTMs are typically only around for a week before being replaced by a new one.
In addition to the new Food Fight mode, Patch 6.30 introduced the aforementioned Mounted Turret–a new kind of Legendary trap that can be placed on the map and used to fire at foes. The update also removed the glider re-deploy mechanic and made a handful of other changes to both Battle Royale and Save the World modes.
Crosley, the company best known for making those junky $100 turntables you can find at Target or Best Buy, is expanding into a different era of musical nostalgia: cassette decks, via TechCrunch.
The company is selling two tape decks. Both have the same basic specs for cheap hardware: there’s a single mono speaker, an AM/FM radio, an integrated mic, and a single-direction deck (so you’ll have to flip the tape yourself, just like the good old days). Odds are that you won’t get the best-sounding speaker, but that’s not really the point.
The $60 CT100 model can also get shortwave radio, and it adds some rather anachronistic support for playing music off SD cards and USB drives. The $70 CT200 skips those features but adds…
Warframe has grown from a modest free-to-play experiment that was very much a work in progress to a remarkably impressive online game with an ever-growing fan-base. Since its launch in 2013, the action-RPG starring “Space Ninjas” slashing and shooting across the universe has evolved in a big way after its many expansions, giving players more ways to customize their characters and partner up in different scenarios–including open world settings–to take on the toughest challenges in the game. Out now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, developer Digital Extremes and along with Switch port veterans Panic Button Games, have now set their sights on their most ambitious project to date–a port of the massive game for Nintendo Switch.
Set for release on November 20, Warframe will bring its fast-paced and kinetic gameplay to Nintendo’s portable console, marking the first time the game will be playable on the go. To put into perspective how much of an undertaking it is to rework Warframe for Switch, the online game receives updates and content drops on a regular basis. Furthermore, the Switch release will launch with the game as it was prior to the Fortuna update–the largest expansion to date–offering 14 different planets to travel to, over 200 melee weapons and firearms to collect, more than 30 unique characters to level up and master, and an involved plot detailing the escalating war among different factions vying for control.
Diving into Warframe for the first time can be daunting, but once you get into the swing of it you’ll find a game that offers a lot of variety and involved systems–something akin to the power grind and gameplay found in Bungie’s Destiny. We recently tried out the Switch version of Warframe ahead of its launch and came away pleased with how faithful it was to the previous releases of the game, which was certainly a tall order in its own right.
As one of the console’s few online-only games (putting it in the same company as the immensely popular Fortnite), Warframe will find a new audience on the mobile console. Like Fortnite, Warframe is a games-as-a-service title with its own of set of unique features and in-game purchases and won’t require players to have access Nintendo Online.
One of the biggest challenges that Digital Extremes had to overcome was not only bringing the scale of Warframe to the Switch, but also figuring out how to translate its fast action and crisp graphical fidelity to a more modest platform. Digital Extremes teamed up with Panic Button Games, the same studio behind the solid Switch ports of Doom (2016) and Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, and the two developers worked extensively over the last year to make sure the next port of the game could stand up alongside the versions. Speaking with GameSpot, Digital Extremes producer Mark Ollivierre and Panic Button Games’ Studio GM Adam Creighton described the process of porting the game.
“All the games we’ve worked on are a little different, so they come with different challenges. Whether it’s Doom or Wolfenstein 2 or even [Warframe],” said Creighton. “This is the first always-online game-as-a-service title that we’ve done for the platform, and it’s definitely something we wanted to do. That’s part of why there was a mutual interest on the Digital Extremes and the Panic Button side to do this. Because for me, I’m a portfolio person, this is very much where I see a big chunk of games going. Before we talked to Digital Extremes folks, this was a title that I enjoyed, wanted to be part of it, and I’d look at as kind of that epitome of a triple-A, free-to-play title.”
If you’re familiar with the feel and playstyle of the console editions of Warframe, you’ll be able to pick up the Switch version easily. However, some clear concessions were made to ensure the game was in stable shape for the portable hardware. While other versions run at a consistent 60 FPS, the Switch port performs at a mostly stable 30 FPS and at 720p. Swapping between docked and undocked modes is simple and painless, and there isn’t much difference in performance between the two–which is impressive. However, some occasional dips in frame-rate during the more intense encounters can occur, particularly when multiple players use their powers and weapons simultaneously.
With that said, the Switch version still does a solid job of keeping up with the action, while also highlighting the strengths of the console. There are surprisingly in-depth controller options that take advantage of the Switch’s myriad play styles with the JoyCons, along with controller sensitivity options to tune the feel of the game to your liking. The Switch version also features motion-control functionality for actions such as fishing, shooting your firearms, and using other tools in-game. Having said that, the Pro Controller still feels like the optimal way to play the game.
The Switch will also features integrated voice-chat, allowing party members to communicate with each other in-game without the need for the Nintendo Switch Online mobile app. If you’re a seasoned player, then you can import your account over to the Switch, which will be available to players during the launch window of the game. The Switch version will exist independently within its own ecosystem of players, though, and there are no plans for cross-play with other versions at this time.
During the development of the port, Digital Extreme and Panic Button got a chance to re-examine the internal workings of the game’s code. While they acknowledge the technical changes between the different releases, they stated that the primary focus of the Switch release was to ensure that it could run at a solid frame-rate and keep all the action fluid and fast. In an interesting turn of events, the collaboration between Digital Extremes and Panic Button Games on the Switch release also led to some unexpected improvements for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One versions of the game.
“Considering the pace that we developed Warframe, we kind of develop a new system, and almost immediately move onto the next update,” said Ollivierre. “So we don’t always have the luxury to kind of step back and re-examine through old code to see if we can rediscover something. So having Panic Button come in and kind of run a fine-toothed comb through everything, through all the systems in its entirety, definitely exposed a couple sore spots and helped us massage those out, and implement them and improve the overall game across all of our platforms.
At launch, the Switch version of Warframe will offer a lot of content for players to dive into. Unfortunately, it won’t have the recent Fortuna update, which added in the second open-world map and a new hoverboard traversal tool. Currently, the developers plan to release it on Switch sometime in January 2019. Still, the amount of content offered with Warframe on Switch is impressive, and the hardware manages to handle it well. Some of Warframe’s best moments occur when you come up with nuanced approaches to traversal and combat, chaining different jumps, glides, and wall-runs together to swoop in on enemies for a quick kill with your immense arsenal of weapons and skills–and that’s still true on Switch.
There’s really no other game on the Switch like Warframe. Though it’s often been seen as the “Destiny” before Destiny, it certainly goes out of its ways to offer up options and different adventures for players, all of which give off this unique flavor that makes it stand out online action games. It’s one of those games that’s gotten better with age, and with the amount of content that’s still on the way, Warframe on Switch will likely be a solid gateway for those craving an involved action-RPG to dive into.
When we’re being watched, we conform. We don’t speak freely or try new things. But social progress happens in the gap between what’s legal and what’s moral. Go to Source
Author: BRUCE SCHNEIER
Pokémon: Let’s Golaunches today for the Nintendo Switch, but the tablet’s Joy-Cons aren’t the only way to play. Nintendo is releasing a special peripheral called Poké Ball Plus as a standalone and a bundle with Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! or Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee!. The handheld poké ball is adorable, but is it worth an extra $40 to $50?
The Poké Ball has a lot to offer in the way of features, starting with rare pokémon Mew. Connecting the peripheral for the first time will gift you with a level 1 pokémon to add to your lineup. As a controller, the Poké Ball Plus is limited to two buttons — confirm and cancel — and a joystick. Like the Joy-Con, it also includes motion controls that allow you to simulate tossing a poké ball in-game….
With Black Friday almost upon us, Sony has set live its own PlayStation Store sale, discounting a bunch of PS4 games including Spider-Man, God of War, FIFA 19, and more. In addition, participating retailers will be selling the PSVR headset with a PlayStation Camera, PSVR Worlds, and Astro Bot Rescue Mission for £180 until December 2.
For the digital sale, there are some great deals on the year’s best PS4 games so far. Spider-Man, for example, is down to £35, while God of War’s digital deluxe edition is just £25. For those craving a football fix, FIFA 19 is down to just £34.19, while shooter fans can pick up Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 for £42. PlayStation Plus subscriptions are also discounted at £40 for 12 months–a saving of 20%.
In conjunction with the PSVR promotion, a bunch of VR games are currently going cheap on the PlayStation Store. They include RIGS Mechanized Combat League for £13, Farpoint for £8, and Astro Bot Rescue Mission for £20.
Read on below for the full list of games on offer at the PlayStation Store. Alternatively, check out our coverage of Amazon UK or Game’s Black Friday sales.
It’s not long now until Black Friday 2018 begins There will be a mountain of Xbox One deals–on consoles, games, services, and accessories–as evidenced by the many early ads retailers have already released. Black Friday itself takes place on November 23, but we already know a lot of what to expect–as well as the fact that, in may cases, you’ll be able to take advantage of these deals even before Black Friday itself. We have the full list of Xbox One deals below, but if you’re looking for something more digestible, check out our rundown on the best Xbox One Black Friday deals.
While there are still more ads to come, early ads from Target, Best Buy, and Walmart have give us a good idea of what to expect. And if you’re an Xbox Live Gold subscriber, the Xbox Store deals are live now.
If it’s a console you’re after, both Xbox One X and Xbox One S will be discounted significantly. Kohl’s will offer an Xbox One X 1TB bundled with PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and $120 Kohl’s Cash for $400, while Best Buy has a special-edition version of the system bundled with Battlefield 5 and a second controller for $430.
In terms of Xbox One S, Kohl’s has an Xbox One S 1TB Minecraft Creators Bundle and $60 Kohl’s Cash for $200. (Enter promo code CHEERFUL at checkout–or print out the coupon in the Black Friday ad–and you’ll save an extra 15% on Kohl’s deals.) Other stores will have the system for around $200. Additionally, extra Xbox One controllers will be available for $40 at Kohl’s, Target, and the Microsoft Store, among other places. The Microsoft Store will also offer a month of Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold for $1 each.
In terms of games, stores will have some excellent discounts on a number of big-name titles. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will be $40 at Walmart, while the toys-to-life game Starlink: Battle for Atlas Starter Pack is $35 at Best Buy (down from $75). Other terrific deals include Assassin’s Creed Odyssey for $30 at Best Buy and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds for $15 at Target and Best Buy.
There’s too much to round up in the text here, so hit the full lists below for all things Xbox that will be on sale–you’ll even find cheap backwards compatible games on sale. We’ll continue to update this as more deals are revealed, so stay tuned, and follow all of our coverage in our full list of Black Friday deals.
