The PS5 is nearly three months out from launch, and with 2021 in full swing, the PlayStation Store is starting to ramp up its digital deals and offers. The Critics' Choice Sale is the latest promotion on the PlayStation Store, adding over 100 more deals on games, bundles, and DLC, and there are some great options available. This is a nice opportunity for PS5 owners to snag deals on both current-gen and last-gen games to play on their new console, but of course, there's plenty here for PS4 owners as well. The Critics' Choice Sale runs until February 18, so be sure to check it out and grab anything on your wishlist before then.The sale includes several cross-gen games that launched on PS4 and come with free PS5 upgrades, such as Ubisoft's Breath of the Wild-inspired adventure Immortals Fenyx Rising, which is down to $36. You can also nab Watch Dogs Legion and Assassin's Creed Valhalla for $30 and $40, respectively. Meanwhile, Destiny 2's latest major expansion, Beyond Light, is on sale for $26.79, while Mortal Kombat 11's Ultimate Edition is discounted to $36.One hidden gem in this sale: Annapurna Interactive's The Pathless, which launched alongside the PS5 last November. Though it's also available on PS4, the open-world action-adventure game looks stunning on PS5 and makes full use of the DualSense controller's haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. The Pathless is down to $32 (from $40) in this sale, the first discount we can recall seeing on its digital edition.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Destruction AllStars is Sony's first PS5 exclusive of 2021, and having just been released online as a free game with a valid PS Plus subscription, the experience has been smooth sailing, except for one aggravating detail: the game's decision to enable teamspeak by default through the PS5 DualSense controller.Without a headset, that turns the peripheral into an input device that regularly shrieks at you from a variety of sources. These range from gung-ho drivers to screaming children, users who don't realize that nobody wants to listen to their Spotify soundtrack in the background and people whose junk food habits make for some of the grossest sound effects ever transmitted through a microphone.Destruction AllStars: How to mute random chatterWhile Destruction AllStars has no option for turning this online chatter off in its own menus, you can save your eardrums from distress with two other methods on your PS5. The quickest route towards a handy mute is to wait for voice chat to start in the game lobby, then press the PS Home Button, and finally on the Activity card press Square to mute the voice chat. Of course, this goes both ways as you don't want to be an audio irritation yourself. You can temporarily mute your own microphone by pressing the button beneath the PlayStation icon, at which point the PS5 will inform you that you have toggled the option.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Electronic Arts has stressed that it has no worries about the future of BioWare, despite recent high-level staff turnover and a few "blips" in the company's development history over the years.EA CEO Andrew Wilson said during an earnings briefing (via GI.biz) that that BioWare is an "incredible studio filled with incredible people who do incredible work." He acknowledged that BioWare has had "some blips in their delivery" in recent years (a presumed reference to Anthem), but Wilson suggested that such shortcomings are actually a good thing. He's proud that BioWare pushed "deeply into innovation and creativity," even if it didn't work out completely the way the studio might have wanted.Wilson went on to say that EA feels "very confident" about BioWare's future with the new Dragon Age and Mass Effect games it's working on. In addition to those projects, BioWare just announced the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, which launches in May and is expected to be a hit.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Following the strong debut of the Apple Arcade in 2019, Apple's core mobile platform has exponentially increased its suite of high-profile games for users to play. With titles like the first-person surrealist adventure game Manifold Garden, and the AR-focused puzzle game Spek that leans heavily on the modern iPhone's advanced camera and rendering features, numerous games that have launched on iPhone and iPad go beyond just the standard mobile games releases. While 2020 saw Apple adjust the scope of the Apple Arcade, the hardware and software publisher still aims to keep the momentum going with new games for iOS, and a key part of the company's plans is to leverage big brands for its mobile audience.GameSpot recently had the chance to check out an early look at the latest games coming to iOS and the modern iPhone; League of Legends: Wild Rift, Crash Bandicoot: On The Run, and the new update for Marvel: Realm of Champions. In preparation for their respective North American launches this year, we had the chance to hear from the devs behind each title, and they explained what the games will offer iPhone and iPad users. The demos showcased were played on the iPhone 12, which possesses the proprietary A14 Bionic chip. However, all these games will still be playable on current Apple devices. Below, you can check out our rundown of each game and when you'll be able to play them.League of Legends: Wild RiftGallery Since its debut in 2009, Riot Games' League of Legends quickly cemented itself as the quintessential MOBA experience, and in 2021, the competitive area brawler remains one of the most popular games in the world. While the core game and its spin-offs have stayed on the PC, Riot Games' will be launching the mobile spin-off, Wild Rift, in North America this March. First revealed in 2019, Wild Rift brings LoL's style of team-focused MOBA gameplay on-the-go, offering quick matches and a more accessible way to play League.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

At the height of Mass Effect's popularity, EA and BioWare toyed with making a standalone first-person shooter multiplayer game. The project was called Mass Effect: Team Assault, or META, and it was the prototype that eventually became the multiplayer mode in Mass Effect 3.The Gamer reports that Mass Effect: Legendary Edition designer Patrick Moran explained the canceled project during previews for the upcoming compilation. Moran explained that the project was planned to be a digital-only multiplayer game like Battlefield 1943."[Mass Effect: Team Assault] was the foundation of Mass Effect 3 multiplayer, incubated at BioWare Montreal," Moran said. "EA really wanted to see a multiplayer experience in the Mass Effect world. Once it had momentum as a standalone title, the design team in Edmonton advocated for and was able to pull multiplayer back to Edmonton, effectively cancelling Mass Effect: Team Assault."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Texas residents received a bizarre message via the State's Amber Alert system last week, asking them to be on the lookout for the evil horror movie doll Chucky. A "test malfunction" led to the message to be sent to Texan mobile phones no fewer than three times.As reported by CBS Local, the emergency alert was sent out January 29. The message stated that Chucky was a suspect in a kidnapping, and provided a description of the cursed doll. Residents were asked to look out for a 3'1" male wearing "wearing blue denim overalls with a multi-colored striped long sleeve shirt and carrying a large knife." Chucky's race was listed as "doll."The alert also gave details of Chuck's alleged victim, a 5-year-old male named Glen. However, horror fans will recognise the image that was issued as that of Chucky's son Glen, from the 2004 film Seed of Chucky. It's unclear if this alert is part of Child's Play movie canon and if Chucky has actually kidnapped his own doll son.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The mystery of WandaVision is ever-evolving with each episode. The mention of Ultron sort of snapped Wanda out of her fabricated reality and pushed SWORD agent Monica Rambeau out of Westview. It now seems the true villain of the show has been revealed.Possibly.Now earlier this week, alleged leaks were posted online about Episode 6, over on Twitter, which has epic ramifications for Wanda, Vision, and their family. But, much like how Endgame was spoiled by Hasbro releasing the makeshift Infinity Gauntlet months before the movie hit theaters, another toy reveal might have given a name to WandaVision's big villain.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Glass Heart Games has announced a new content update for Vigil: The Longest Night, titled The Bounty of the Night, is now out--and it's free! The update is currently live in the Steam version of the cosmic horror-inspired metroidvania, and will follow on Switch shortly.Largely a quality of life update, The Bounty of the Night improves upon the game's map, making it easier to keep track of hidden areas you've already discovered and interior locations that you've explored. It also rebalances the game, buffing swords and axes so that they're more viable while also increasing the overall strength of certain enemies and bosses to compensate for the new in-game meta.Gallery Beyond quality of life improvements, The Bounty of the Night adds new content to the game too. Over 50 new items and pieces of equipment have been added, 11 of which are brand-new weapons and special attacks. And for those like me who are hungry for new pieces of lore, The Bounty of the Night adds new documents to discover, allowing you to fill in some of the blanks concerning protagonist Leila's past.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

While Animal Crossing: New Horizons was Nintendo's biggest smash last year, moving a staggering 30 million copies in just nine months, it was hardly the only hit the company had in 2020. The classic compilation Super Mario 3D All-Stars was also a huge success, selling 8.32 million units according to Nintendo's earnings report.Released as part of Nintendo's Super Mario 35th anniversary celebration, Super Mario 3D All-Stars packages the plumber's first three 3D adventures--Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy--together in one collection. The compilation has been a quick seller since its release in September; not only did it have one of the year's biggest launches in the UK, but it was also the second-best-selling game on Amazon in 2020.3D All-Stars' sales figures already put it within reach of Nintendo's top 10 best-selling first-party Switch games. Number 10 on that list, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, stands at 9.82 million units as of December 31. Animal Crossing, meanwhile, is already closing in on the top spot. The current top seller, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, has sold 33.41 million units, which means Animal Crossing could conceivably surpass it before long.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The latest update for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is coming very soon, introducing the Firebase Z Zombies map, a new multiplayer map, and lots more. Developers Treyarch and Beenox have now published the complete patch notes.The key additions in the update are the Firebase Z map for Zombies and Express map for standard multiplayer. Although the new Zombies map is going live at 11 PM PT / 2 AM ET with the update, the Easter Egg quest won't be available until Friday so players have a chance at discovering the secrets during a time other than the dead of night.As for the Express map, players who want to play the new map and only the new map can do so with the 24/7 playlist that goes live with the refresh.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Apex Legends Season 8: Mayhem is in full swing, introducing playable character Fuse and the 30-30 Repeater. Both are welcome additions to Apex Legends, but not nearly as much as my favorite Season 8 additions: the brand-new locations on Kings Canyon.Kings Canyon has had a rough go of it. Apex Legends' original map has been destroyed and remade several times--it first suffered an invasion of leviathans and flyers when Crypto accidently destroyed the relay tower keeping the beasts at bay, then Loba caved in the facility beneath Skull Town and Thunderdome, and most recently, Fuse's ex-friend Maggie blew up the mountains bordering the northern portion of the map. But this most recent case of destruction has been for the map's benefit as it has fixed my longest-standing issue with Kings Canyon: it was too small.See, Kings Canyon is Apex Legends' smallest map. It already felt cramped in comparison to the much wider, far more open World's Edge that was introduced in Season 3--so when developer Respawn decided to blow up Skull Town and Thunderdome in Season 5, leaving nothing but a giant crater where Apex Legends' two fan-favorite landmarks used to be, it left the map feeling even smaller. The map wasn't unplayable, not by a long-shot. But I do remember having a much better chance of experiencing a balance of quiet-loot-time and frantic-fight-time on World's Edge in Seasons 5 and 6.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Donnie Darko, the 2001 sci-fi psychological thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal, is finally getting a 4K Ultra HD release in North America. The new Donnie Darko 4K UHD limited edition from Arrow Video releases April 27, and you can preorder it now for $60 on Amazon. While a 4K edition of Donnie Darko released in the UK in 2016 for the film's 15th anniversary, this is the first time this set is making its way to the US and Canada. Donnie Darko 4K Ultra HD Limited Edition $60 The new Donnie Darko 4K Ultra HD limited edition includes both the theatrical and director's cut (the latter of which adds 20 additional minutes of footage to the film). The original camera negatives by Arrow Films were used for the 4K restoration of Donnie Darko, which was supervised by both director Richard Kelly and cinematographer Steven Poster.4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentations of both cuts in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)Original DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing100-page hardcover book featuring writing by Nathan Rabin, Anton Bitel, and Jamie Graham; an in-depth interview with Richard Kelly; and an introduction by Jake GyllenhaalDouble-sided fold-out poster featuring newly commissioned artwork by Luke PreeceSix double-sided collector's postcardsLimited edition packaging with reversible sleeve See at Amazon In addition to the 4k restorations of both cuts and the limited edition bonuses, the set also comes with a bunch of special features, of course.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition compiles almost everything from the Mass Effect trilogy into one enhanced package, with just a few notable exceptions. The multiplayer mode from Mass Effect 3 won't be included, but the lone piece missing from the single-player components is the Pinnacle Station DLC from the original.The Pinnacle Station was famously missing from the PS3 version of Mass Effect as well, and Mac Walters told GameSpot that in both cases, it's because the data was corrupted sometime after the original Mass Effect shipped. Even so, he said, the studio tried its best to retrieve the data for this compilation."We got so close. It was probably more than half-way past development, halfway through development. And we got in touch with someone from Demiurge and they said, 'We might have a backup, we might have a backup.' They carefully did the backup. They sent it to us on a thumb drive. We got it.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

A jury has voted unanimously against Valve in a trial over a patent infringement case focused on the Steam Controller. The verdict awarded $4 million in damages to SCUF and Ironburg Inventions, four years after the original complaint was filed in a Washington court.Both SCUF and Ironburg Inventions are subsidiaries of Corsair, which is known for its specialization in computer and gaming accessories and customized gear. According to its website, SCUF holds 105 patents for its designs, most of which pertain to its unique trigger and back paddle mechanisms. This is what the case was actually about, with opening arguments in the trial citing "rear-side control surfaces" as the source of the tension. From SCUF's point of view, Valve wrongfully replicated its controller body back paddles.Companies licensing these back paddle designs for their own controllers isn't a new thing. Both Microsoft and Sony have partnered with SCUF in the past to create controllers with the signature back paddles and trigger extenders. But that's the problem: According to SCUF's lawyers, Valve didn't go through the proper channels to use SCUF paddles and triggers on their controllers, and willfully disregarded both the patents and SCUF's warnings about the infringing Steam Controller.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The ongoing tug of war between retail investors and hedge funds over GameStop stock has seen many highs and lows, with the latter resulting in a massive loss for one of the early investors in the short-sold market.Keith Gill, better known as DFV on Reddit, has lost $13 million after GameStop's stock plummeted throughout the week, settling in at just $100 per share at the time of writing. Gill, who is widely credited with noticing the massive short sells on GameStop stock and instigating the short squeeze that took place this month, hasn't sold any of his shares and is still holding for more profits in the future.Gill reportedly owns 50,000 shares in GameStop, with over 500 open call positions in the company. This had led to a valuation of over $33 million earlier in January, according to multiple posts on Reddit. This was at the current height of the squeeze, where GameStop stock soared past $400 before coming down in the days and weeks after.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com