How much do you love Metroid? Don't answer that until you take a peek at this Metroid Dread bundle at Walmart. It looks like a great deal, right? Metroid Dread + FREE (Walmart's words, not mine) Metroid Dread Samus Mug for the low price of $60. That means you're getting a pair of Metroid Dread mugs with your preorder, which makes this the best preorder bonus we've seen. But if you look closely at the listing you'll notice that there's a pesky little shipping and handling charge.Metroid Dread + FREE (not really free) mugs See at Walmart Yes, you're reading that right. You apparently have to pay a $50 "freight handling charge." These mugs must be extremely high quality and more fragile than the Leg Lamp from A Christmas Story. But hey, at least the mugs themselves are "free." If you want two copies of the game and four mugs(!), you have to pay $100 of course. In all seriousness, this ridiculous $50 charge must be an error, and our guess is Walmart will correct it soon.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

After multiple delays and numerous alpha and beta tests, Amazon Game Studio's MMO New World is finally nearing its September 28 release date, with one final open beta test planned before launch. The final beta is available for anyone to jump in and play.The open beta runs September 9-12 and is available to play through Steam, but players will first need to request access to join the beta. To do that, you'll need to login to their Steam account and navigate to the New World page on Steam. Under the various "Pre-purchase New World" options will be a button that says "Join the New World Open Beta Playtest." Click to request access, and Amazon will send an email to the email address associated with your Steam account letting you know when you are able to download the beta.New World's previous closed beta saw the game rise to the top of Steam's best-sellers, since pre-ordering the game granted immediate beta access. During the beta, more than 200,000 concurrent players explored the game's world of Aeternum at once. It also caused some graphics cards to fail, an issue that has since been resolved.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Razer's Basilisk range of mice is quickly becoming one of its best, with each new iteration offering many top-tier features for a rather budget-friendly price. That's no different with the latest version, the Razer Basilisk V3, which is headlined by one of the best features on one of its competitors mouse offerings. Razer Basilisk V3 Gaming Mouse $70 The biggest addition to the Basilisk V3 is a new, smart mouse wheel. It allows you to toggle between a tactile mode, which lets you feel each click of the wheel for precision, to a free-flowing mode that will make quick work of scrolling through a long document. It's a feature that Logitech has introduced into almost all of its premium mice, starting with the business and productivity-focused MX Master range and more recently in its gaming range with mice such as the G502 Lightspeed and more. See at Razer See at Amazon See at Best Buy I used this feature daily with both of my own Logitech mice, and I can tell you it's a game-changer if you've never experienced it. With the Basilisk V3, you can get a bit more granular with the settings for this wheel, too. You can alter how much resistance there is before the wheel automatically switches from tactile to free-scroll mode, or how much each notch in the wheel actually scrolls. You can also turn one mode off entirely if you want to depend on one or the other in a game.Of course being a Razer mouse you also get a healthy dose of RGB powered by the company's Razer Synapse software. There are a total of 11 Chroma RGB zones that you can individually change if you're stressed about the glow that will emanate from your hand during use. You'll also get 10+1 programmable buttons--ten easy-to-access buttons on the face of the mouse and then an additional one on the bottom to switch between on-board profiles.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Call of Duty's Season 5 Reloaded update will go live on September 9, and now Treyarch has detailed the patch notes for Black Ops Cold War's mid-season changes. This includes new maps and modes, as well as another double XP event, and some details about Reloaded's upcoming Numbers event.New Multiplayer Maps, Modes, And PlaylistsBlack Ops Cold War's "new" map for Season 5 Reloaded is a remake of Zoo from the original Black Ops. Zoo will have a 24/7 playlist of mixed 6v6 modes.The objective-based Demolition mode comes to Black Ops Cold War as well. Demolition is a respawn mode that requires the attacking team to attempt to destroy two enemy bomb sites, while the defending team must prevent the attackers from detonating both bombs before the time limit expires.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

PlayStation DualSense Charging Station $30 See at GameStop NexiGo Dobe DualSense Charging Station $18 See at Amazon Oivo DualSense Charging Station $8 See at Amazon InnoAura DualSense Charging Station $7 See at Amazon Oivo PS5 Stand and Charging Station $33 See at Amazon While the DualSense's battery life is better than the DualShock 4, it still doesn't run for nearly as long as an Xbox controller with a pair of AAs. Battery life for the DualSense tops out around 12 hours, but with games that make greater use of features like adaptive triggers, rumble, internal speakers, and lighting effects, this number can practically be cut in half. That's why it makes sense to always keep your controllers charged between play sessions. The best and most convenient way to do this is to use a charging station. We've rounded up the best DualSense charging stations for PS5 below.Of course, if your controller dies while gaming--and you only have one--you'll still need to plug it into your console to keep playing. Since the included USB-C cable isn't lengthy enough to be practical for most setups, you may want to invest in a longer cord such as this 16-foot cable that's compatible with DualSense and Xbox Series X|S controllers.For more PS5 suggestions, check out our roundups of the best PS5 controllers and best PS5 accessories. If you're looking for some games to play, we have a list of the best PS5 games so far.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

In the last several years, Mike Flanagan has become a cornerstone of Netflix's horror content, delivering critically acclaimed series like The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor. But this year, the writer/director isn't taking us to another haunted house--he's taking us to an island that may or may not be infested by some kind of supernatural evil.Midnight Mass will be arriving on the streaming service at the end of this month as a seven episode mini-series with a chilling official tagline: "The isolated community on Crockett Island experiences miraculous events--and frightening omens--following the arrival of a charismatic, mysterious young priest."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Microsoft is adding next-gen controller features for older Xbox controllers for some Xbox Insiders. Announced in a blog post, the new firmware will allow some older Xbox controllers to use features previously exclusive to the Xbox Series X|S controllers.The firmware update applies to Xbox One controllers with Bluetooth Support, Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2, and Xbox Adaptive Controllers, adding better cross-device Bluetooth connectivity and reduced latency. The cross-device Bluetooth connectivity uses Bluetooth Low Energy, which allows for a better connection to PCs, iOS, and Android devices that support it. It also allows the controller to remember one Bluetooth device and one Xbox console, letting people switch between the two devices by double-tapping the sync button.The Phantom Magenta Xbox One Controller is one of many special edition controllers that will take advantage of the firmware updateThe controllers listed are also getting Dynamic Latency Input support on Xbox Series X|S. This technology delivers controller inputs to the console more effectively, reducing the amount of latency occurring while playing. Both of these features are already present in Xbox Series X|S controllers, but now Microsoft is working on bringing them to capable backward compatible devices. This update is available for Alpha Skip-Ahead and Alpha members of the Xbox Insider Program.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

New features for NBA 2K22's MyNBA mode have been announced for Xbox Series X|S and PS5. Detailed in a blog post, the new features include the MyStaff system, a more in-depth training system, and three new pre-built teams to add to the league.The biggest addition to the MyNBA mode is the MyStaff system, which allows players to build out their entire front office staff, with four departments and a cap of 17 staff members. The four departments that need to be staffed are the Front Office, Coaching, Scouting, and Sports Medicine departments, with each offering different attributes that affect the team.The MyStaff system lets players hire team members to better fit their organization to their playstyleStaff members can have a variety of attributes, like Charisma and Money Sense, which will be better suited for different jobs. Players can freely move staff members to different jobs, based on which attributes are more important to the team at that time or how their attributes develop over time. Each job provides something specific, so players will need to be selective of which positions they fill. For example, the Sleep Doctor helps manage the team's wellness, allowing for better fatigue management as the season goes on.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Valorant 3.05 Update is now live, nerfing Raze, adding bonus battle pass XP, and adding the new map Fracture in its own playlist. Detailed on Valorant's website, the new patch also brings consistency to ability damage across all Agents.The update makes changes to three Agents: Brimstone, Sova, and Breach, so that damaging abilities interact with physical objects consistently across the game. This makes it so players don't have to know how each damaging ability interacts with other Agents' abilities. For example, Brimstone's Orbital Strike now deals damage to Killjoy Nanoswarm, Cypher Trapwire, and more.Episode 3 Act 2 goes live! Patch 3.05 brings ability damage updates for three Agents, Rank distribution adjustments, and new bonus XP for Premium Battlepass owners. Read it here: https://t.co/uhzXwjKn1P pic.twitter.com/4C4TndIMMN — VALORANT (@PlayVALORANT) September 8, 2021Killjoy receives a slight balancing change, with the bullet tagging from her turret now slowing 29.5% instead of the previous 72.5%. Raze's Boom Bot now deals reduced damage but can be used more frequently. The max damage has been dropped from 125 to 80 and the minimum damage dropped from 50 to 30, but the cost has been reduced from 400 to 300.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Helping Ford Cruller deal with his psychological problems in Psychonauts 2 isn't easy--mostly because his psyche is split into three parts, and you have to track down all of them. Once you gain access to Ford's mind in the mail room, you'll see a Postmaster General side of him that has you riding on letters and fighting to get Ford's baggage sorted correctly. There's not too much to find in this version of Ford's mind, but a lot of it is pretty well hidden. Here's where to locate all the collectibles in Cruller's Correspondence. We've got even more Psychonauts 2 coverage and guides, including our rundown of all the collectibles in Loboto's Labyrinth, Hollis's Classroom, Hollis' Hot Streak, Strike City, Ford's Follicles, Compton's Cookoff, and Bob's Bottles. And don't forget to check out our Psychonauts 2 review.Cruller's Correspondence CollectiblesNuggets of Wisdom: 1Memory Vaults: 1Emotional Baggage: HatboxHalf-A-Minds: 1Figments: 47Hatbox Tag: Check the mailbox right after using a thumbtack to swing across a gap early in the level.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Over the past seven years, Destiny has seen a fairly vast evolution, with its shooter gameplay encompassing a whole host of different experiences. But that has led to a lot of disparity. There are the complex, iconic, endlessly replayable endgame raids on one end of the spectrum, and the simpler, more by-the-numbers one-off campaign missions at the other. Across its lifetime, Destiny 2 has evolved to offer more and more missions and activities that bring those two experiences closer together, and with the upcoming major expansion, The Witch Queen, Bungie is looking to make more of the Destiny 2 experience feel like it is definitively, quintessentially "Destiny."That's according to Joe Blackburn, who formerly worked as Destiny 2's raid design lead and recently stepped into the role of game director. For Blackburn and the rest of Bungie, a major goal going into Destiny 2's next year of content is finding more ways to blur the line that separates the game's toughest, most intricate content, from the more casual, more approachable baseline campaign missions--to make more of the game feel like the sort of thing you can only find in Destiny 2."There's a suite of content that we feel like is definitively Destiny," Blackburn said in an interview with GameSpot. "There's stuff like Presage, there's stuff like dungeons and raids up there. All of that stuff feels like stuff that you could only find in Destiny. And every time we do something, there are articles written about it, and people say, 'You gotta complete this game. Look how cool this thing is.' And then you get into Destiny, and you're like, 'Where's the stuff that I saw people playing on Twitch? Where's this?' And instead you're playing a much more linear sort of classic shooter-style campaign.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The Halloween series is as old as modern horror. Just like the genre itself, though, Michael Myers can't and won't die. He's once again facing off against Laurie Strode who, when last we saw her, was fleeing as a burning house collapsed around the unkillable killer.Originally set to release in October 2020, Halloween Kills was delayed almost exactly a year to October 15, 2021. The film premiered just last night at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, and reviews of the second film of this new trilogy (and 12th installment in the franchise) are starting to roll out.Reviews are still early for Halloween Kills, so there's plenty of time for critical consensus to change. They're mixed right now, with most of the reviews in the positive-to-middling range.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Wario has transitioned from a platformer antagonist in Super Mario Land 2 to platforming antihero in the Wario Land series to indie game developer in the WarioWare series. In WarioWare: Get It Together, the character comes full circle with a microgame collection that loosely goes back to his platforming roots and brings his own original characters along for the ride. It's a much different WarioWare experience, and the new twist is mostly for the better.If you've played any prior WarioWare games, you have a basic idea of what to expect in Get it Together. Wario and his cadre of weirdos have created a series of "microgames" that only last a handful of seconds. You'll find yourself plopped onto a game screen with an instruction consisting of no more than a few words, meaning you have to figure out the goal and execute the right action with quick-thinking and sharp reaction times. These microgames are then thrown into a blender, demanding quick responses one after another in a gauntlet of zany action. It's a formula that has been fun since Mega Microgames on the Game Boy Advance, and it still works exceptionally well--and maybe even better--with this new take on the concept.The twist in Get It Together is that all of the microgames involve some degree of character platforming. While previous WarioWare games might have simply had you press the A button at the right moment to manipulate an on-screen device, in Get It Together you'll always be controlling a character. Characters include Wario, complete with his Wario Land-style shoulder slam, along with all of the WarioWare-specific characters who have been introduced throughout the series' history. As a story device, they've all been sucked into their own video game which is being plagued by bugs.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

As the first major original JRPG on new consoles and the latest installment of a very long-running series, Tales of Arise comes with a lot of expectations attached. Arise sets out to refresh its visual presentation and gameplay to appeal to a new audience, but it also tries its best to retain what has made the Tales series so beloved among its longtime fans: fun characters, fast-paced combat, and an epic sense of scale. While it manages to succeed admirably at most of what it tries to do, a few shortcomings keep it from being the new standard-bearer for RPGs to come.300 years ago, the planet Dahna was invaded by the people of their neighboring star, Rena, and crumbled beneath the might of the Renans' advanced technology and knowledge. Since their conquest, the Renans have destroyed the once-vibrant Dahnan culture and enslaved the planet's people. One day, a nameless, amnesiac slave known only as Iron Mask finds himself caught up in a supply train hijacking by rebel forces--and discovers that the freight is a Renan woman with a strange curse. As he gets swept up in a Dahnan rebellion, Iron Mask discovers new powers, his true name--Alphen--and a connection to the Renan girl, Shionne. But this tiny slave rebellion grows into something much bigger.The beginning of Tales of Arise is a marked departure from the chipper banter and adventuring most Tales games lead off with. With heavy topics like slavery and oppression taking center stage in the narrative, the overall tone of Arise's story for the first several hours is quite dour, drilling into you the sheer misery and desperation of the Dahnan people. Fortunately, once your party fills out, the familiar Tales party dynamics come back in full force, with characters' personalities bouncing off each other in numerous entertaining dialogue exchanges. The rapport among your teammates--and watching their interactions change as they go through individual character arcs--is a major draw, and you'll find yourself eager to keep playing just to see the team react to the latest turn of events around the campfire or complain about the latest broken dungeon elevator.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 developer Ninja Theory has been revealing tidbits of information about the upcoming game, and the latest tweet from the studio shows just how far it's willing to go to achieve fashionable accuracy."Sometimes to create, you must first destroy," Ninja Theory tweeted as someone at the studio took a blowtorch to some leather material that looks similar to the costume that Senua actress and video editor Melina Juergens wore recently.Sometimes to create, you must first destroy 🔥Experimenting with textural effects on clothing. pic.twitter.com/a90eRM54ac — Ninja Theory (@NinjaTheory) September 6, 2021It's not a video of the office pyromaniac in action--probably--but a demonstration of how Ninja Theory plans to use real-world assets in its games, creating a library of scorched materials that it can reference when needed. "It's high-quality scans like this that will help us reach an amazing level of detail in our games," the developer explained in a separate tweet that showed off the digital replica.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com