However, the trailer was already captured and reposted across the web, revealing major changes to the franchise’s battle pass system. Activision has abandoned the linear progression of previous seasons of Call of Duty, opting instead for a “combat map” which gives players a sense of choice of what they unlock. It isn’t a particularly novel idea, with many other live service games already using a modular battle pass model. Players will earn “Battle Tokens” which can be redeemed for rewards....

The map, initially called Marina Bay Grand Prix, was announced back in August during the Call of Duty (eSports) League Championship Weekend and was seemingly inspired by the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore. But in September, any mention of the map was purged from all of Call of Duty and Infinity Ward’s social media accounts, as well as any trailers on its YouTube channel. The map was also missing during the multiplayer open beta....

What does this all mean? Simply that whatever Nintendo does or doesn’t choose to include in tonight’s Nintendo Direct, the FCC will now not make this filing public for another five weeks. UPDATE 22/9/21: Eagle-eyed fans have spotted an update to last week’s FCC filing which details a mysterious new Nintendo Switch peripheral. The listing has now been updated so that its confidential parts will become publicly viewable as of this Friday, 24th September - which, you probably don’t need me to note, is the day after the now-confirmed Nintendo Direct due to take place at 11pm UK time tomorrow night....

Earlier in February, Google shut down its first-party development operation, impacting around 150 people. According to Bloomberg, Stadia missed sales targets for its controller, and targets for monthly active users by hundreds of thousands. Reportedly, staff within Stadia were worried the service would not deliver what was expected from customers upon its late 2019 release, and called on management to position the launch as a beta test. However, Stadia boss Phil Harrison and others on the leadership allegedly resisted, choosing instead to go with the big bang-style launch expected of new consoles....

Cloud game libraries from Stadia, GeForce Now and Utomik will be featured, with “more to come”. Games can be played simply by pairing a compatible controller. In addition, TV owners will be able to purchase, display and “trade” NFTs directly from their devices. The Gaming Hub will bring all gaming content together in one menu, also including YouTube Gaming content and connected consoles. Samsung announced the news at tech trade show CES 2022....

“The all-new #MilesMoralesPS5-inspired statue from Premium Collectibles Studio is huge! Here’s a @NajJeter for scale,” the developer tweeted yesterday. As you may have surmised, the tweet was accompanied by a photo of Miles Morales actor Nadji Jeter sitting beside his action figure. As for the figure itself, it is an incredibly accurate depiction of Miles from the game, complete with electricity from his Venom Blast radiating from his hands (something that sets Miles apart from Peter Parker’s Spider-Man)....

Saber Interactive’s Space Marine sequel was announced at last year’s The Game Awards with a fancy CGI trailer that confirmed the return of Ultramarines hard man Captain Titus, as well as a few GIFs’ worth of gameplay. The new trailer, below, includes talking heads from Saber discussing their passion for the Warhammer 40,000 universe, Titus actor Clive Standen pottering about in full motion capture get-up, as well as a handful of new blink-and-you’ll miss them clips....

It’s used for all kinds of important tasks, from building portable equipment to repairing Drop Pods and crafting Technology. Basically, it’s a really useful resource to have on you at all times, so we’ve put together a quick and dirty guide on how to get Chromatic Metal, the Chromatic Metal recipe, and what you can use it for. Please note that our No Man’s Sky guides are in the process of being updated after the launch of No Man’s Sky BEYOND - for now, this page may still have plenty of useful info, but bear in mind it’s due a refresh!...

Here on this page, we’ll explain how to get Freighters and how to get Frigates, as well as how fleets work and anything else worth knowing about the system in general. Please note that our No Man’s Sky guides are in the process of being updated after the launch of No Man’s Sky BEYOND - for now, this page may still have plenty of useful info, but bear in mind it’s due a refresh!...

North was a guest on Couch Soup this weekend, as hosts Liam McIntyre and Todd Lasance began their playthrough of Uncharted 4. Just before the opening sequences began rolling, North was asked more about how this final version of the game came about. Clearly not wanting to shy away from the elephant in the room, North went straight into chatting about Hennig, and the changes made after she left the game’s development....

Vodeo Workers United consists of roughly 13 full-time employees and contractors working remotely across the US and Canada, and has been voluntarily recognised by Vodeo’s management. In an interview with Polygon, Vodeo designer Carolyn Jong explained the motivations behind the step: “We were really inspired by what a lot of our colleagues were doing in the game industry and the tech industry and beyond - Voltage Organized Workers, United Paizo Workers … there was a lot going on”....

In fact, the power of the new card actually poses some fundamental questions: if CPUs can’t fully feed it, will it be a good match for your surrounding hardware? More importantly, what are the current real world applications for the card? Ultimately, if you have a 4K 120Hz+ display (I use a 48-inch LG CX OLED), you’re in good shape for matching your display with the capabilities of the hardware....

Catching as many Oddish as possible during this hour-long window will give you the chance to find a 100% perfect IV stats Oddish. You can also find a preview of shiny Oddish down below. Oddish’s Spotlight Hour falls on a quiet day in Pokémon Go, but you can still partake in the Go Battle League and fight Tapu Bulu in five-star raids. On this page: Once you’ve caught a 100% IV stats Oddish, you’ll have the choice of evolving it into either a Vileplume or Bellossom with perfect stats....

Which is why Ogmios’ School of Zen Motoring has become something of an obsession over the last couple of years. Debuting just as the pandemic was truly taking hold in the spring of 2020, it’s just about everything: ostensibly a collage of dashcam footage with soothing commentary from sometime battle rapper Ogmios, it’s a fascinating chronicle of a country undergoing one of its biggest societal changes since World War 2, a pseudo-documentary sitcom complete with recurring characters and catchphrases, an invaluable document of a London that’s so often overlooked....

SEGA has just celebrated its 60th anniversary - happy birthday you mad, beautiful bastards - which seems as good a time as any to reflect on the company’s finest. Maybe it’s OutRun, in all its iconic glory, Super Monkey Ball with its minimalist brilliance or perhaps you could even look a little closer to the modern day and put Yakuza 0 forward as the best of the bunch. For reasons entirely my own, it’s Virtua Fighter 3 that’s my personal pick....

Once you’re locked into your class choice, you’ll want to make use of their unique skills and class buffs to ensure you’re just as fearsome as Enoch’s deadliest foes. While your character can’t change classes at will, there’s plenty of flexibility in the class skills unlocked throughout the campaign so be sure to take advantage of this to whatever suits your playstyle. We provide our best Outriders class recommendations, as well as a list of class skills, to help make up your mind....

As is to be expected, Pentiment will be available on PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass upon its release. For those not subscibed to these services, it is currently listed for £14.99 on Steam. Throughout Pentiment, players will take on the mantle of Andreas Maler, “a very clever journeyman artist who gets caught up in a series of murders and scandals that spans 25 years in the fictional town of Tassing and Kiersau Abbey”....

Nintendo’s garden strategy threequel has now shifted 513k boxed copies, enough to beat the original GameCube Pikmin’s lifetime sales. It has also more than doubled Pikmin 3’s original sales total from back when it first launched on Wii U. That’s according to Japanese sales data from Famitsu (thanks, Gematsu) which does not count eShop downloads. Sure, half a million copies sold does not rival Mario and Zelda’s numbers. But it’s still not bad for a re-release of a third game after many years of the franchise remaining dormant....

This latest paid DLC expansion, which follows on from Planet Zoo’s Arctic Pack, South America Pack, Australia Pack, and Aquatic Pack, introduces a total of eight new creatures. There’s the Clouded Leopard, a medium-sized arboreal cat more commonly found in the forests and grasslands of Southeast Asia, as well as the docile sun bear, which won’t require much ground space but needs plenty of room in the air to accomodate its fondness for climbing....

But there are others who are more easily distracted and seem to miss everything important that comes by. People like Bertie. How he manages this, we don’t know, but Spelunky, to him, remains unknown. So, as Spelunky 2 arrives on Xbox Game Pass, an opportunity presents itself. An opportunity to see something afresh through new eyes. This is how a veteran and newbie come together for a conversation, and here’s what they have to say....