Gaming in Usa. Reviews, Walkthroughs, News

Have fun playing Hades 2 or whatever other new games you're enjoying at the moment as before you know it, anything anyone in gaming is talking about again will be Elden Ring. The 2022 Game of the Year's Shadow of the Erdtree expansion will be released on June 21 and if its reveal trailer is anything to go by, the DLC will almost double the game's scope. To celebrate Shadow of the Erdtree's release, Bandai Namco is running a competition, and the grand prize is a lifesize statue of Messmer the Impaler.

Bandai Namco US is running a competition that will see one player receiving a 10-foot statue as a prize.

You know what will really set off your soft furnishings and put further strain on your relationship when you're already worried your girlfriend is more angry about you leaving crumbs around the toaster than she would be if all were well? A 10-foot-tall statue of a video game character to cram in the corner of your living room! To celebrate the impending release of massive gloomy RPG DLC Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree, Bamco are running a competition for players to edit together a cool trailer. Best trailer overall wins Big Messmer - the lad in the header image up there. I'm sure he'll make a great home for many happy spiders and their cobwebs.

A fresh leak originating from renowned US-based case maker Thinborne has unveiled Samsung's strategic departure with the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6. Departing from its predecessors, this leak suggests a potential design akin to the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, favouring flat surfaces and sharper corners. While the official launch of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 remains a few months away, recent leaks provide a sneak peek into its anticipated appearance - and the revelations might not please everyone.

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

ByteDance and TikTok have filed a challenge to the bill banning the app in the US.

American game development studio Illfonic is no stranger to asymmetrical multiplayer games based on popular properties. In the past few years, it has released games like Friday 13th: The Game and Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed, which take full advantage of the franchises they are based on to provide fun multiplayer experiences. Following the release of the latter, the developer started working on Killer Klowns From Outer Space: The Game, another asymmetrical multiplayer game based on the comedic horror movie released back in 1988, which promises to be great fun.

A jury has ruled that Activision Blizzard will pay tech incubator Acceleration Bay $23.4 million for patent infringement.

A Pokemon fan created a regional variant of Remoraid and shared the original concept online. Remoraid can become an Octillery upon reaching level 25, and it is also required for a Mantyke to evolve into Mantine.

Xbox has reportedly shut down Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog Studios, and Roundhouse Games, with members of the latter team being folded into ZeniMax Online Studios. Layoffs have been a harsh reality of the video game industry these past couple of years, with companies of all sizes laying off significant portions of their staff or shutting down studios entirely. Xbox itself has engaged in multiple waves of layoffs this past year.

One detail in Sanctuary Hills may point to a dark theory surrounding Vault-Tec while taking inspiration from a real-life location. Sanctuary Hills is the location players are first introduced to in a sequence set in the year that the bombs fell in 2077, being the home of the Sole Survivor and their families.

Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty has announced the shutdown of Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks amidst huge cuts at Bethesda.

AMD has adopted a brand new "Ryzen AI HX" naming scheme for its upcoming Strix Point APUs which sounds very familiar to Intel's Core Ultra.

Final Fantasy XIV is experiencing a series of DDoS attacks again, with not much known about what is going on just yet.

World of Warcraft Classic just locked Lava Lash, it's only normal roleplaying realm in Season of Discovery. With this change, there are no longer any pure RP servers available for new World of Warcraft Classic players to join in Season of Discovery.

Demand for Sea of Thieves on PS5 skyrocketed pretty much as soon as it became available to pre-order on the platform, and only went on to increase from then on, so it’s no surprise that the game’s sales are reflecting that in the aftermath of its PlayStation release.

The barrage of TV — and great TV — continues apace in 2024, with plenty of intriguing new and returning shows launching their seasons this week.

Final Fantasy 14’s servers are currently under a worldwide DDoS attack that’s preventing players from logging into Square Enix’s MMORPG.

Anyone hoping to get their hands on the physical copies of console Deluxe Editions of Baldur’s Gate 3 will now have to wait a while longer thanks to production issues out of the developer's hands. 

XFX has finally launched its ultra high-end Radeon RX 7900 XTX Phoenix Nirvana GPU which comes with a triple slot & triple fan cooling solution.

Pokemon GO developer Niantic has added Latin American Spanish language support to the game. This significant update arrives alongside a month-long in-game celebration designed to welcome and engage Pokemon GO's LATAM players.

The first official look at in the suit for the upcoming DCU movie has been revealed.

Even though Nintendo still hasn't confirmed it will be releasing the Switch's successor in 2025, one look at its 2024 slate serves as relatively concrete evidence that's the case. There are still games coming, but there's an argument to be made that the last tentpole release on the Switch was Super Mario Bros. Wonder. A game famed for turning Mario and his supporting cast into elephants, and fans in Japan were lucky enough to then see Elephant Mario turned into a plush soon after.

In the vast open world of GTA 5, there are hidden treasures waiting to be discovered by intrepid players. Among these gems are six hidden vehicles that lend an element of thrill and exclusivity to your virtual journeys.

A Red Dead Redemption 2 player celebrated the game's soundtrack by transforming it into a cassette tape. Red Dead Redemption 2, an open-world action-adventure game developed by Rockstar Games, takes players on a journey through the rugged landscapes of the American Wild West. Released in 2018, the game received critical acclaim for its compelling narrative, immersive gameplay, and beautifully crafted world.

YouTube Premium members can now test out a new AI-powered feature called ‘Jump ahead'. Rolled out as a part of a wider experiment, this feature aims to enhance user experience by allowing subscribers to skip ahead to the most relevant part of a video with just a double-tap.

Even though generative AI is a recent development, there's already strong evidence that, like the steam engine, it possesses all the characteristics are needed of a general-purpose technology, argued Andrew McAfee, the Co-Founder and Co-Director of 'MIT's Initiative on the Digital Economy' and a Principal Research Scientist at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Despite the series insisting that the Great War was a global, thermonuclear event, the franchise has only visited several locations in the United States, even in its outing as an Amazon Prime Video series. It isn't as though other locations don't exist in a similar vein to the post-apocalyptic ruins of America, since there are characters from other countries, like Zao from With the mod in the news, it brings attention to other international locations which the post-nuclear survival series could take place in.

Having to choose between pulling for Robin or Topaz in 2.2 can be an excruciating decision to make, especially when both characters come with pros and cons. Because free Stellar Jade, the resource needed to purchase Star Rail Passes used in character banners in the gacha system, is fairly limited and the odds of pulling a 5-star unit are low, it is common for players to have to choose between one of the two characters featured in banners during specific phases. In the first 2.2’s banners, Robin and Topaz will run simultaneously.

Former Nintendo employees have revealed that, despite its public announcement, Xenoblade Chronicles was originally planned to go without a North American release. Xenoblade Chronicles is one of Nintendo's most popular RPG series, with its pedigree allowing developer Monolith Soft to become one of Nintendo's most reliable first-party studios. However, none of Xenoblade's success would have been possible without the very first entry released on the Nintendo Wii all the way back in 2010.

Moist Esports has announced it is filing a lawsuit against the United States Department of Immigration over recent issues regarding visas for the organization's Apex Legends team. The aptly-named Moist Esports was first founded in 2021 by popular YouTuber MoistCr1tikal, boasting players from a variety of different esports. While Cr1tikal was the sole owner of the team initially, fellow streamer Ludwig would later join Moist Esports, even helping the organization to sign a Valorant team. Now, however, a recent issue with the Apex Legends team is seeing the organization going to bat against the U.S. government.

Manni L. Perez and Dylan Rourke may be the Grand Theft Auto 6 lead actors, according to a newly surfaced rumor. While Perez has long been speculated to portray Lucia, Rourke is a new name not mentioned in any past GTA 6 reports.

It can be nice to have a TV show in your rotation that you know isn’t ending any time soon. But sometimes, you want something with an end point in mind from its creators. Freed from the pressures of renewal and cancellation, limited series can give us some of the best storytelling the medium of television has to offer.

Activision studio Vicarious Visions was working on a 3D Donkey Kong title, it’s claimed.

Helldivers 2 is now unavailable for purchase in over 150 regions, and Steam is issuing refunds for the game, regardless of playtime.

Pokemon is a multimedia juggernaut and its the various forms it comes in that have made it so massively popular for more than two and a half decades. However, you would think, considering how important an arm of the Pokemon machine it is, that the anime would be easier to watch from start to finish. With its 25 seasons shared between multiple streaming platforms, watching 'em all not only requires thorough research, but it can get pretty expensive too. Hoopla has entered the anime fray to help Pokemon fans on both those counts as the free service is now carrying eight seasons of the show.

After much consideration, the Season of Discovery team has determined that the populations of the Lava Lash (US), Lava Lash (EU), and Chaos Bolt (EU) servers are too low. In order to create healthier communities, Blizzard is closing these realms to new accounts and opening transfers to other realms. Players currently on these realms will have the option to transfer to the Wild Growth PvE or Crusader Strike RP-PvP servers of their respective regions.

Forgotten Gems is a regular column about notable games that have moved out of the public eye and may not be easily accessible anymore. To see all the other games I've covered so far, be sure to check out the 11 previous issues of Forgotten Gems in our Columns section.

AMD has shared some interesting data regarding the capabilities of its RDNA 3 GPU & XDNA NPU hardware in consumer-centric AI workloads.

May is finally here, and with it comes a slate of some of the year’s most anticipated movie premieres. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, I Saw The TV Glow, and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes are this month’s must-see theatrical releases, but if you’re looking for the best movies new to streaming on Netflix, Hulu, Max, and more this May, you’ve come to the right place.

Arguably Cyberpunk 2077's most famous date scene - the underwater scuba dive with tech wizard Judy Alvarez - was made with smoke and mirrors, according to one lead developer. 

When creating Cyberpunk 2077's vast open world of Night City, it turns out that developer CD Projekt Red was faced with a "significant challenge" when it came to "adjusting to the scale and characteristics of American settings," simply because most of the team is European. 

The developer of Helldivers 2 has apologised after fans barraged the game’s Steam page with negative reviews over news of a mandatory PlayStation Account requirement.

Fortnite is the highest-grossing game in the first quarter of 2024, according to a report published by Newzoo. The year 2024 for the games industry has been marked by events such as layoffs, Gearbox Software's acquisition by Take-Two Interactive, and the farewell to Nintendo 3DS and Wii U online services. Meanwhile, new releases like Palworld and Helldivers 2 hit the shelves, sharing space with popular releases like Fortnite and Valorant.

Johan Pilestedt has responded to review bombing of Helldivers 2. Helldivers 2 is one of the most popular releases of 2024. Fans have enjoyed the way the game iterates on the online multiplayer format with interesting objectives and challenging team-based gameplay. In the opinion of many gamers, Helldivers 2 excels in part because of developer Arrowhead Game Studios' attentiveness to player feedback.

A Hawaiian Punch drinker pointed out a noteworthy detail regarding the popular brand's mascot that led to many depressed reactions among longtime fans of the beverage. This marks yet another instance of a shocking realization shared on the internet about a childhood icon that, upon second glance, was painfully obvious all along.

In the midst of its “cost reduction program,” Take-Two Interactive appears to plan to shutter two of its subsidiary studios, Intercept and Roll7. This is also in the midst of a wider layoff of about 5% of its staff, approximately 600 staffers according to some estimates, and some shut-downs of internal projects.

The Dropout streaming service will expand its library this month with Thousandaires, a “wish fulfillment panel comedy series,” according to the company’s news release.

Helldivers 2 has enjoyed nothing but roaring success since its launch in February, though the last 24 hours have seen it on the receiving end of strong backlash. Sony recently announced that Helldivers 2 players on PC would have to link their Steam and PlayStation Network accounts to be able to play the game going forward, provoking strong criticism from the community. The game’s “Recent” user reviews rating on Steam – which takes into accounts user ratings for a game over the last 30 days – has fallen to “Mixed”, having received over 24,000 negative ratings on the platform just today.

Kevin Feige passed on Ryan Reynolds’ initial pitch.

A new image from Marvel’s has been released, giving fans their first clear look at the new suit will wear.

Research firm Newzoo has revealed what it claims were the top-grossing console and PC games in the first quarter of 2024.

I didn't have a Game Boy Camera as a lad, partly because I couldn't afford one, and partly because my "friends" used to troll me ("bullying", I think we called it back then) about my Game Boy. Amongst other things, they'd reach over and flick the power off while I was playing The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. I didn't finish that game for 15 years. I'd flown the family nest before I braved the Eagle's Tower. Can you imagine what my friends would have done if I'd owned a Game Boy Camera? Probably, they'd have taken photos of... bottoms with it, and such.

The Drive to Diamond continues this May with all-new content intended to help players learn and earn in MLB The Show 24.

There has been so much time committed to yelling online about sex scenes in movies and TV — whether they’re gratuitous, whether they’re fundamental to a realistic portrayal of life, whether they’re titillating fun, and whether they offend Penn Badgley’s wife — that the discourse has now entered meme territory. But passionate defenders of hot-and-heavy drama might be right to make a ruckus over what they deem culturally valuable: According to a new study, the depiction of doin’ it in mainstream Hollywood movies has fallen dramatically over the last 20 years.

Sprinkled into TikTok’s endless feed of videos, you can find all sorts of content related to video games. You can see lore analysis videos, cool tips and tricks, cosplay, and, if you’re lucky, thirsty edits of characters like Leon Kennedy. The platform has become a place where people can learn about the games they love and discover new ones. Some games, like The Wandering Village, have specifically flourished thanks to TikTok and have found millions of viewers on the app. But now, that could all go away.

Helldivers 2 players have found massive tunnels on Terminid planets after the latest patch. Helldivers 2, a cooperative third-person shooter developed by Arrowhead Game Studios, has gotten a lot of attention for its intense gameplay and ongoing updates. Set in a dystopian future, players battle against alien forces across various planets, facing formidable enemies like Bile Titans, Hive Lords, and plenty more.

A new game based on the Nintendo World Championships appears to have been rated by the ESRB.

Growing up, I liked Pop-Tarts. I don’t think that’s a particularly novel sentiment for an American child to have; they’re delicious little squares of crust and fruit goo packed in silvery packets, like bricks of kid-friendly cocaine. Like a lot of children (and some adults), I never thought about the fact that something I liked might be bad for me, until one day in the eighth grade, Mrs. Schenck saw one of us crack open a pack and said “There is zero nutritional value in a Pop-Tart.” Perhaps she thought shame would change the habits of a bunch of rangy preteens. Pop-Tarts, however, are not the purview of anyone remotely concerned with shame.

NVIDIA has announced an update to the NvRTX branch of Epic's Unreal Engine 5. The major new feature is the addition of experimental support for ReSTIR Global Illumination, the ray tracing algorithm first discussed by NVIDIA researchers in the seminal paper Spatiotemporal Reservoir Resampling for Real-Time Ray Tracing with Dynamic Direct Lighting released at ACM SIGGRAPH 2020.

Google has filed its objections against Epic Games' recent call for the courts to enforce a variety of changes to policies regarding the Google Play store and its associated payment system.

The Steam version of Helldivers will soon require all players to sign in with a PlayStation Network account.

FF7 Rebirth sales in the US on PlayStation 5 are lower than those of Final Fantasy XVI in the same time period.

Apple introduced a new feature called “Shop with a Specialist over Video” to its online store last year. This feature enables customers to connect with an Apple Specialist via one-way video when purchasing select products, such as the iPhone. Now, this functionality is extended to the Apple Store app on iOS.

Apple Inc. shares jumped in late trading after the company posted stronger-than-expected sales last quarter and predicted a return to growth in the current period, sparking optimism that a slowdown is easing.

Some Baldur's Gate 3 fans who are waiting on the arrival of their physical copies of the game's Deluxe Edition may have to wait longer than expected, as Larian Studios has announced it is experiencing additional production delays for certain regions. The Deluxe Edition copies of Baldur's Gate 3 had all been originally been announced for the first quarter of 2024, but an earlier round of delays had already pushed it back.

Nintendo has taken down more than 8,500 clones of Switch emulator Yuzu with a single DMCA notice.

Helldivers 2’s latest premium Warbond has been revealed

Editor's Note: Our first NordVPN review was published back in 2017, but after significant updates we've revisted the review.

Amazon has revealed its slate of free Prime Gaming games for May 2024. This month's freebies available to Amazon Prime subscribers include Fallout 3 and eight other titles.

If you regularly play your favorite games online with friends and want to something that will give your voice chat a bit of something extra, then this Xbox controller deal on the Turtle Beach Recon could well be for you.

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

March was a good month for new games, as a number of fresh releases walked straight into the USA software charts. As per Circana (formerly NPD) analyst Mat Piscatella, it was Dragon's Dogma 2 that caught fire in March, claiming the crown as the month's best-selling title. The action RPG sequel is also the third best-selling game of the year, which is quite impressive.

Stellar Blade was the best-selling physical game in the UK last week, with its launch sales on PS5 being enough to see it top sales charts in the region. Sony and Shift Up haven't shared any official sales data just yet, but this marks a good start for the title, which holds the potential to sell well long-term. TopSpin 2K25 was another new entry in the UK sales chart last week, debuting in third place.

This author thought Helldivers 2 was going to be a colossal flop, so it just goes to show how unpredictable this industry can be. According to Circana analyst Mat Piscatella, it currently sits behind a trio of Spider-Man titles, a couple of God of War games, and Ghost of Tsushima as Sony’s seventh highest grossing game in the United States to date. It’s been out less than three months, and isn’t even being sold at full-price.

Whether exploring the irradiated monuments of Washington D.C. in Fallout 3 or gambling away your last couple of Caps on The Strip in Fallout: New Vegas, the series' North American setting is an essential piece of the puzzle. And while players have previously been given tantalising glimpses of how the rest of Bethesda's bleak world might be faring, studio head Todd Howard says the plan is to keep the series set in the US.

There's been a lot of discussion surrounding the commercial success of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. The PS5 exclusive launched on the 29th February, but despite garnering near universal acclaim from critics, questions were quickly raised regarding sales numbers, with Square Enix yet to provide any official statistics (which usually isn't a great sign).

We review Express Route, a cooperative pick up and deliver board game published by The Op. Express Route is a Pandemic style game that will have players trying to deliver packages across the US.

Arrowhead Game Studios has announced the next Premium Warbond for Helldivers 2 – Polar Patriots. Going live on May 9th, it offers armor sets for cold climates alongside new weapons, emotes, capes and more. Check out the trailer below.

American convenience store chain 7-Eleven is partnering with Tetris on a line of merchandise, including a handheld.