While Switch's 2022 lineup is still largely a mystery, we know of one marquee game coming to the system next year: Splatoon 3. The next entry in Nintendo's colorful online shooter series is slated to hit the Switch sometime in 2022, and it looks like it'll shake up the familiar Splatoon gameplay in some notable ways. Although Nintendo's E3 Direct will focus largely on games coming this year, there's a chance the company will show off more of Splatoon 3 during the presentation, and here's what we hope we'll see.What We Know So FarNintendo officially announced Splatoon 3 at the end of its February Nintendo Direct, and the game's reveal trailer gave us a look at some major changes for the series. The most obvious is the setting. Splatoon 3 takes place in an arid desert wasteland known as the Splatlands. At the heart of the desert is a new hub city called Splatsville, where players will gather between matches.We also know the series' signature 4v4 Turf Wars will return in Splatoon 3, but this time, there will be new stages set in the wilds around Splatsville. Nintendo teases there will be new moves and weapons, as well; we got a glimpse at a new bow and a crab-shaped autobomb during the reveal trailer. It also appears that players will now launch themselves onto the map from the air rather than spawning in at designated locations.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Gameplay is the top consideration when judging whether a new title is good or not. However, immersion is the icing on the cake of an already phenomenal experience, and nothing immerses gamers quite like a beautifully composed soundtrack.Conversely, one of the easiest ways to slip out of the experience is poor audio. Whether you need the audio to gauge the distance of enemy footsteps or to get lost in your favorite VGM, one investment you should consider is a gaming headset. However, not all headsets are created equal. Some don't deliver on the quality they promise, and many top-of-the-line headsets can cost several hundred dollars. Thankfully, the HCG1 Pro Gaming Headset bridges the gap between quality and affordability, and it's even more accessible right now at $104 , a 45% discount.The HCG1 Pro is a high-quality gaming headset that rivals even the most well-known top-shelf contenders. It comes with all the bells and whistles that gamers expect from a dependable headset. You'll find a detachable microphone, in-line volume control, a durable, adjustable metal frame, and large memory foam pads for proper comfort during marathon gaming sessions. It's also compatible across all platforms, so you can easily switch between Final Fantasy VII Remake on your PlayStation 5 (if you're lucky enough to own one) and Hades on your PC.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Developer BioWare first teased a new Dragon Age-related project in December 2018. Two years later, BioWare officially confirmed that it is working on a fourth, currently untitled Dragon Age game (which we will henceforth refer to as Dragon Age 4). Since then, we've heard small nuggets of information about the upcoming role-playing game.With Anthem abandoned and Mass Effect: Legendary Edition now out, it stands to reason that BioWare is now fully focusing on its next projects, namely Dragon Age 4 and a still untitled new Mass Effect game. So there's a chance that we learn more about either game at E3 2021, which is right around the corner.Below, we go over everything we currently know about Dragon Age 4, as well as what we might see of the game at E3 this year.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Soon, content creators across Twitch will be able to give their emotes a bit more life. In celebrating its tenth anniversary, Twitch is launching a few changes to emotes, including the option to make them animated.According to a post on the Twitch blog, animated emotes will first be available to Twitch Partners "in a few weeks." Affiliates won't be left out but will likely gain access to animated emotes after Partners, with Twitch saying they would be available by the end of 2021. When they launch, creators will be able to upload a total of five animated emotes for their tier one subscribers to use.Twitch is also adding a function to disable animated emotes for viewers "who may be sensitive to animations."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

If you’ve been closely watching the ups and downs of cryptocurrency, you know that it is a story of perseverance. Yet despite its popularity, few people have a deep understanding of how crypto actually works. If you’ve been interested in learning more or even creating your own cryptocurrency, then you’ll need the right guidance. Now, you can learn the ins and outs of cryptocurrency, blockchain, and mining with The Cryptocurrency with Ethereum & Solidity Blockchain Developer Bundle , now on sale for only $36.There are 35 hours of content packed into one bundle so you can learn all about the hottest financial technology in 2021. Taught by certified professionals with long histories in the cryptocurrency community, these courses can help anyone from complete beginners to veteran crypto fanatics. The instructors will show you how to develop your own blockchain process using the immensely popular Ethereum network. As the most used cryptocurrency in the world, Ethereum is incredibly easy to get started with, allowing you to create your own crypto distribution applications, get involved in the blockchain process, or even start your own currency.You’ll have lifetime access to all the courses, meaning that you can tailor your studies with your busy schedule. The lessons can be accessed whenever and wherever you have a few extra minutes to learn, whether that's at the office, at home, or riding the bus. By the end of the bundle, you’ll have a comprehensive understanding of the most rapidly growing financial tool in the 21st century, making you more than ready for the blockchain revolution. You might even develop the next hit coin yourself!Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The United States government is preparing a report to explain what it knows about unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP)--or UFOs as they were historically known--but it's not good news for people hoping we've been visited by aliens from outer space.An official who read the report told CBS News ahead of its official publication that "there is no evidence the objects are extraterrestrial." That said, the Pentagon's Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force report could not explain what many of the objects were.More than 120 cases that were investigated by the government remain "unexplained," according to the report, which in turn keeps the door open for conspiracy theories. The UFO report will be given to Congress by June 25, at which point we should learn more about the specifics.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

It appears that Yuji Naka may have left Square Enix. As first picked up by VGC, fans reported that the Sonic co-creator updated his social media recently to show that his employment at the Balan Wonderworld publisher ended on April 30. We're reached out to Square Enix for comment, and we'll update this article if we hear back.Balan Wonderworld was the result of a collaboration between Naka, fellow Sonic creative Naoto Ohshima, and many other veteran developers who worked with him over the years. Naka created a new studio within Square Enix to develop the game that would become Balan Wonderworld. Naka previously worked on notable games such as Nights Into Dreams and Phantasy Star Online. It's unclear what his departure means for the studio he helped create.Unfortunately, Balan Wonderworld failed to impress critics, earning a Metascore of 51 on Metacritic, which equates to "mixed or average reviews." In GameSpot's review of Balan Wonderworld, critic David Wildgoose described the game as dated in the extreme, though not without its charms. Back in March, it also emerged that the game can cause seizures without its launch patch installed, so make sure to connect to the Internet before playing it.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Update: DotEsports.com is reporting that TSM will not be allowed to use the FTX addition in its name for any Riot-sanctioned event in North America. According to Chris Greeley, interim commissioner for the North American League Championship Series, while the deal does not break LCS rules, "crypto exchanges fall under a category of sponsorship that carries activation restrictions." Therefore, as Greeley told Dot Esports, "TSM’s new naming convention and FTX brand placement on TSM jerseys will not apply to the LCS or other Riot Games esports in North America."Original Story: You may have heard of a sports team selling the name of its stadium, but what do you do if you're an esports organization with no stadium name to shop? Sell the team's name, of course, and that's exactly what North American esports org Team SoloMid has done.TSM has agreed to a 10-year, $210 million deal with cryptocurrency trading site FTX, which will change the team's name to TSM FTX. The money, according to the official press release, will be used toward expanding the team to other platforms--with mobile noted as a focus--as well as the opening of new offices around the world.The deal will also see TSM FTX purchase $1 million worth of FTX's original coin FTT, as well as "distribute cryptocurrency to each of its players and employees."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

EggNut's retro-style adventure game Backbone has been in the making for some time. In the vein of games like Full Throttle or Beneath a Steel Sky, Backbone is about immersing yourself in its unique, pixel art-powered world filled with characters that have ties to a sprawling mystery. In 2019, EggNut released the opening prologue for free on Steam, leaving players hanging after a shocking climax involving an exclusive nightclub and a hidden stash of dead bodies. But on June 8, players will experience the full story of private investigator Howard Lotor and his descent into the seedy underbelly of a dystopian, alternate-universe Vancouver.In this exclusive, spoiler-free preview for GameSpot's Play For All, we got a chance to dive into the opening hours of Backbone. This adventure game takes place on an alternate Earth where civilization is run by animals, with different species tied to levels of social class. Primates are on the upper rung of the social ladder, while other mammals fall further down--descending into poverty and a degrading status that provokes bigotry from others. It's an incredibly compelling premise, and Backbone props it up with some stellar worldbuilding, giving the setting the kind of depth that makes it feel real due to the parallels with our own.While the conceit of animals forming a society and taking on human roles seems lighthearted, the story and setting make it clear that the characters in the story face some very human hardships and struggles. You play as a down-and-out private investigator named Howard Lotor, a raccoon, who gets caught up in a seemingly run-of-the-mill case involving an adulterous otter, whose wife tasks Howard with finding evidence of his affairs. But as it goes with noir fiction, this simple case inevitably leads to a much larger conspiracy that draws in our protagonist, compelling him to solve a potentially big mystery.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Panic has announced its first ever Playdate Update video showcase for June 8. The 15-minute presentation airs on Panic's YouTube channel at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET and will offer another look at the company's intriguing new handheld, including information about when preorders will open as well as its Season 1 lineup of games.Ahead of the showcase, Panic has confirmed that the Playdate handheld will retail for $179 USD when it launches. The company also announced it is doubling the number of games that will be included as part of Season 1, from 12 to 24, as well as increasing the handheld's internal storage to 4 GB.The Playdate"We've all been quietly working nonstop to get all the complex pieces of the Playdate puzzle into place, and at last we're ready to show you what we've been up to," Panic co-founder Cabel Sasser said in a press release. "There's a lot of amazing things being created here that will hopefully add a bit of joy to your life."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

A new video from the Minecraft YouTube channel has detailed some of the changes players can expect when the second part of the game's Caves & Cliffs update arrives at the end of this year.One of the biggest changes coming in the second part of the Caves & Cliffs update is a revision to Minecraft's world generation. Specifically, the game's caves and mountains will change the most, stretching lower and higher than ever before, and spawning in different shapes and sizes. However, new world generation has become a concern for some players as they worried it could potentially warp their current, years-old Minecraft world.According to Minecraft vanilla game director Agnes Larsson, none of players' carefully built creations, from the measly dirt house to a fortress in the sky, will be affected. That's thanks to a special "blending" technique Mojang is using. "So when you update your world to part two," Larsson said, "we will blend the old world generation with the new world generation… An important thing here for us is that we should never destroy anything you have built."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is still free-to-play, but you'll have to pay the piper if you want to play the game's ranked modes. Valve recently announced that free players will be restricted from earning XP, drops, or ranks due to free players "hurting the experience" of other players."Along with all the gameplay that we made available for free, new players had access to drops, Ranks, Skill Groups, and a free path to Prime matchmaking," the blog post announcing the change reads in part. "Unfortunately, over time, those benefits have become an incentive for bad actors to hurt the experience of both new and existing players. So today we’re revising the offering for new players."While this essentially shuts non-Prime players out of ranked, those free players who want to keep their rank, skill group, and XP have two weeks to purchase a Prime pass, which costs $15. After that, their progress will be wiped. For those non-Prime players who desire skill-based matchmaking, Valve is introducing a new "Unranked" matchmaking mode that will use your perceived skill to match you with players, but will not provide you with a skill group, ranks, or drops.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

If you're looking for something new to play this weekend but don't want to spend any extra money, Microsoft's Free Play Days promotion returns with three Warhammer games.Now through Sunday, June 6, you can download and play Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr Complete Collection, Warhammer: Chaosbane, and Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus at no extra cost. You need to be a subscriber to Xbox Live Gold or Game Pass Ultimate.You can download the games from Xbox.com through the Free Play Days hub or by navigating to the Subscriptions tab in the Xbox Store on console to get started.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Halo Infinite is one of Microsoft's biggest upcoming games, and while it missed its original release date as an Xbox Series X|S launch title, it still looms large on the horizon.While Halo no doubt remains popular and stands today as one of the best-known FPS games ever, the series has lost some ground to its contemporaries with Call of Duty: Warzone, Fortnite, and Apex Legends eating a lot of the FPS pie these days.Halo Infinite represents a chance for Microsoft to reclaim Master Chief's former glory, and fans are excited. Set after the events of Halo 5: Guardians, the game looks to be throwing the veteran Spartan up against a new threat, while returning to some of the roots of the franchise--and some more familiar adversaries.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The third Conjuring film, The Devil Made Me Do It, follows the franchise's pattern of fictionalizing the "true story" of real cases worked on by self-proclaimed demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, this time zeroing in on the 1981 trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, which became the first case in the US to attempt to use demonic possession in the defense. Naturally, there's a lot in the movie that is completely invented for the sake of telling a compelling (and definitively supernatural) horror story. The Conjuring movies have, after all, already established the existence of things like demons and malevolent spirits and Ed and Lorraine Warren as played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga have actual, real, undoubtable psychic abilities in the world of the films, unlike their real life counterparts who could make no such definitive claims.So where do those lines start to blur in relating the actual Arne Johnson case to the movie? Let's break it down. Some spoilers from The Conjuring 3 to follow, so please proceed with caution. Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com