Folk News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

In an interview, Blizzard revealed that «Heroic Week» is returning in The War Within. Dragonflight changed the raid release schedule for the first time in a while, removing «Heroic Week» — a one week period where Mythic raids and the full loot pool of Mythic+ were not open. While removing «Heroic Week» had upsides for certain players, such as not having arbitrary caps for 1 week, it has been criticized by others for:

Welcome to another week of hot deals to keep you warm, indoors, and still rich enough for pizza. Things to note for today include Amazon getting competitive with the preorder price of Assassin's Creed Shadows. I'm also all about hooking up you PC folk with free (with Prime) versions of Dragon Age: Inquisition and The Forgotten City, two titles worthy of any respectable pile o' shame.

Snap Inc. Chief Executive Officer Evan Spiegel said he's investing more aggressively in bringing artificial intelligence and machine learning to Snapchat to make it more interesting for its users, the next major shift after years spent overhauling its advertising business.

Diablo 4 is currently enjoying a bit of a redemption arc in the wake of season 4's big loot rework, and in a timely PSA regarding the new Tempering system, one player has rather sensibly urged everyone to always Temper items first and then Enchant them.

The recently released Pixel 8a is one of the best phones on the market for those who are looking for a device that is affordable but also packs a punch. There are several reasons to choose this device, like the fact that it is more affordable than its elder siblings while maintaining most of what makes the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro so good. However, benchmarks of the newly released budget Pixel tell a slightly different story.

Today, former XCOM and Marvel's Midnight Suns designer Jake Solomon announced the foundation of Midsummer Studios, a small indie company established with the help of several industry veterans who worked on games like Civilization (Will Miller) and The Sims (Grant Rodiek). This startup has already raised $6 million from investors like Transcend Fund, Tirta Ventures, Betaworks Ventures, 1Up Ventures, F4 Ventures, Krafton, and Day Zero Productions.

Folks, the fabled Resident Evil 2 Akuma Mode is real.

Oaken is a new game that just dropped on Android and iOS after charming players on Switch, PlayStation and Steam. Created by Goblinz Studio and Laki Studio, it’s a card game that’s also a turn-based roguelike. By the way, they’re the same folks who’ve brought us games like Microtopia, Mini Settlers, Iris And The Giant, Beneath Oresa, Hero’s Hour and Neurodeck.

Earlier this week, Microsoft announced a number of their studios were being shuttered, including Arkane Austin (Prey, Redfall), Tango Gameworks (The Evil Within, Hi-Fi Rush), and Alpha Dog Games, while Roundhouse Studios will be absorbed into ZeniMax Online Studios to work on The Elder Scrolls Online. This follows nearly 1,900 layoffs earlier in the year, largely from Microsoft’s newly-acquired Activision Blizzard teams. Unfortunately, it seems this isn’t the end of the pain.

Welcome to a Thursday chock full of sweet gaming discounts. I'm always on the prowl for AAA Switch titles that are sub-sixty-bucks, and today that's Pikmin 4. I honestly think PC folk should also stake an early claim on Ghost of Tsushima Director's or sink their fangs into V Rising. You know what? Let's keep that "quality vampire games" motif going. Segue: engaged...

Today opened with rather shocking news, as Microsoft announced a number of their studios were being shuttered including Arkane Austin (Prey, Redfall), Tango Gameworks (The Evil Within, Hi-Fi Rush), Alpha Dog Games, and Roundhouse Studios. Considering the recent success of some of these studios (Hi-Fi Rush was the most widely-acclaimed game Xbox had put out in recent years) and the general pro-developer message Phil Spencer and other Xbox execs tried to send while on their studio shopping spree over the pass few years, this has caught many off guard.

Hello! Welcome to the 325th edition of the WoW Economy Weekly Wrap-up! This week we take a look at the latest news on Professions in The War Within Alpha and speculate on what might be the good selling items for gold makers. We also talk about levelling via gathering in Retail and the return of Glyphmas for Cataclysm Classic! Just look at those Token prices! My name is Samadan and I'll be your guide through the World of Gold Making!

Endless Ocean Luminous, the latest in Nintendo and developer Arika’s cult aquatic exploration games, is out now, and it might not be quite what some folks are expecting. The game features a number of mechanics that may be somewhat confusing at first, but don’t worry, we’re here to clarify things.

Baldur's Gate 3 launched last year to widespread acclaim, and you can count Mr. Skyrim, Starfield, and The Elder Scrolls 6 himself to its many admirers.

Stellar Blade launched last week, yet you wouldn't believe it with all the talk surrounding the title to do with censorship and the game's jiggle physics. If you were, let's say, the developer of a cozy indie farming sim that had previously shown very little concern about how bouncy their female characters' chests are, now would be the worst time to make a comment about it.

We have the solution to Wordle on April 29, as well as some helpful hints to help you figure out the answer yourself, right here. We’ve placed the answer at the bottom of the page, so we don’t ruin the surprise before you’ve had a chance to work through the clues. So let’s dive in, starting with a reminder of yesterday’s answer.

Blizzard held a Content Creator Summit and we participated in a group interview where a couple of kindly devs addressed questions from Content Creators. The devs for this interview were:

While the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 are excellent consoles, especially for those who don’t want to invest in a gaming PC, you tend to lose out on a lot if you don’t have one of Sony’s online subscriptions. You see, a PlayStation Plus (PS Plus) subscription offers, is access to online multiplayer, and without it, you can’t connect to online servers and play with other folks, which is a bit frustrating. Luckily, a PS Plus membership does offer some additional features, such as free games every month and access to some older PS games, all of which depend on which of the three tiers you subscribe to: Essential, Extra, and Premium.

Blizzard has announced that starting tomorrow, April 23, free character transfers will be periodically opening from PvP to PvE realms in Season of Discovery for both US and EU players. Citing player satisfaction, these transfers seem to be a limited-time event — while an official end date was not specified, Blizzard stated «throughout the rest of the week,» so make sure to take advantage of the character migration if you want it!

LittleBigPlanet 3's PlayStation 4 servers have gone offline «indefinitely», erasing millions of user-created levels.

With each new Fortnite season comes a slew of new cosmetics to earn through the Battle Pass or to purchase in the item shop. With the game being out for nearly six years, the number of skins in the game has grown to absurd levels. No longer will you run into a match of solo players wearing similar skins. Between regular releases of skins and special event skins involving IPs like Star Wars, Street Fighter, Marvel, and more, every player has a very unique locker full of cosmetics to bust out in a given match.

<a href=«https://twitter.com/sweetpotatoes/status/1778099089344757944?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweethttps://twitter.com/sweetpotatoes/status/1778099089344757944?ref_src=» https:>Immortals of Aveum

Like many other multiplayer games, Overwatch 2isn't immune from cheaters. And it's not only an issue on PC, where cheaters use tools like aimbots. Some folks use XIM devices so they can play with a keyboard and mouse (KBM) on consoles. This is against Blizzard's rules, as KBM players typically have an aim advantage over those who use a controller, even though the console versions of the game have features like aim assist. While it's taken some time to get the ball rolling, the developer is finally doing something about the XIM problem.

Great news for folks hungry for more game announcements: the annual Future Games Show Summer Showcase is set to return once again this year.

World of Warcraft's The War Within expansion spotlights one of the MMO's most ancient yet unexplored races: a group of antagonistic arachnoids known as the Nerubians. While that's exciting for lore heads everywhere, it also requires Blizzard to solve an age-old design dilemma – what about the players who don't like spiders? 

The first season of the critically acclaimed adaptation Interview with the Vampire was a huge hit with fans of Anne Rice’s beloved novel. As it heads out for its sophomore season, executive producers Rolin Jones and Mark Johnson promise SFX magazine that something even bigger is in store for season 2.

Pilgrims, produced by Amanita Design, is now available on Android after being available only on Apple Arcade for some time.

There are a lot of creative features integrated into the PlayStation 5's DualSense controller, including a small speaker that is often used to add a layer of immersion in certain games. However, if you're annoyed by this speaker's interruptions — or if you're just trying to cut down on noise while folks are sleeping, perhaps — you can actually disable this feature altogether. Here's how to turn off the DualSense controller speaker on your PS5.

Alongside the righteousness of spreading managed democracy, if there's one thing Helldivers 2 soldiers go to bat for, it's Eagle-1. Throw in the suggestion that the faceless community favorite might actually be an anime girl, though, and down-bad fans aren't just going to bat – they're standing between the NPC pilot and whatever harm might come their way with more vigor than ever before. 

Bandai Namco's new trailer for Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama's desert wasteland manga, Sand Land, committed what could possibly be the most intellectual marketing song choice of 2024 by having it accompanied by the iconic 2001 dance hit, Darude's Sandstorm. While folks rightfully lost their minds at the trailer's apropos song choice, eagle-eyed Dragon Ball Z fans spotted a clue toward a Dragon Ball Z crossover.

The former head of Blizzard Entertainment, Mike Ybarra, has said that players should be able send tips to developers after finishing their game.

When it launched in 2022, Elden Ring was an immediate hit. The challenging game took everything great from previous FromSoftware titles and merged it with a sweeping open world to explore — letting players venture in any direction just a few minutes after starting the game. That also made it incredibly daunting. Not only did you have to contend with nightmarish monsters and rage-inducing combat, but you had to figure out how to best reach your next destination without stumbling upon enemies that were twice your skill level.

Former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra, who exited the publisher in January, would like to leave tips after completing some $70 games.

Former Blizzard boss Mike Ybarra would like the option to «tip» developers once he's completed a game.

The official Helldivers 2 Discord server recently set up a poll channel to gauge players' opinions on various updates and features, and after seven hours its inaugural polls indicate that the game's community hopes to see a little more oomph from its Warbonds and marksman rifles.

In the first half of its first season, X-Men ’97 has played it a little safe. That’s not to say things haven’t been rather fun, as the show has put its own spin on the Inferno and Lifedeath storylines, on Magneto inheriting leadership of the X-Men, and on the birth of Nathan Summers — all pillars of X-Men continuity or beloved greatest-hit stories of the 1980s and 1990s.

Folks, we thought this day may never come, but it's here. The official Helldivers 2 freestyle rap, which was tragically cut from the full version of the game, has surfaced online thanks to a behind-the-scenes video from Goodbye Kansas Studios – the team behind the shooter's iconic opening cinematic.

There's only good news in the world of Helldivers 2 today following the successful completion of Operation Swift Disassembly, the recent Major Order to crush the Automatons in Arrowhead's popular multiplayer game. Not only is the galaxy free once more, but all Helldivers have received a special gift in the form of a minute-long break inclusive of the time it takes to read the announcement. Congratulations, folks; you earned it.

Nintendo’s next console is upon us — ish? Dubbed the “Switch 2” by folks accustomed to Sony unimaginatively adding numbers to the end of PlayStation, the next iteration of Mario gaming hardware will reportedly arrive in 2025, after a shift in launch window. The delay leaves those who never dipped into the current-gen Nintendo catalogue with a tough decision: Buy a Switch now, or hold out for a Switch 2, whenever it actually hits shelves? Backward compatibility remains an unknown and not one of Nintendo’s historical achievements.

In the first week of Phase 3, Blizzard has observed that players are favoring Nightmare Incursions over other forms of leveling. In order to make additional leveling methods more competitive, Blizzard has announced that they will be increasing the experience buff of Discoverer's Delight and reducing the amount of experience earned from Nightmare Incursions early next week. Nightmare Incursions Overview Guide

Excitement for the upcoming PS5-exclusive Stellar Blade has been building following the game’s well-received, and refreshingly technically sound, demo dropped, but some folks may still have some questions about the stylish action game. Thankfully, Stellar Blade general director Kim Hyeong-tae and technical director Lee Dong-gi have been doing interviews for various Asian gaming publications that may clear up some of those queries.

Blizzard has noted that the Crafted Item Level on the 10.2.6 PTR is a bug and it will be fixed soon! We mentioned yesterday that Crafted gear is only Myth 2/4 at max quality on the PTR, when Season 3 was Myth 3/4. Blizzard has now mentioned that this is a bug and it will be fixed.

It’s the most annoying day of the yeeeeear – yes, in case you haven’t looked at the calendar and are wondering why everyone’s gone crazy, today is April Fools Day. While some gags are fun enough (CDPR’s floppy disc edition of Cyberpunk 2077 is cute) too many are just kind of lame, or worse, promise something kind of cool-sounding, with the punchline being… that it’s not happening. Ho ho!

It all comes back to Malevelon Creek. Helldivers 2 players smashed the latest major order, and now a new one's come in to shut down an Automaton factory on planet Tibit, but we're going to have to punch through some other planets first, and the infamous Malevelon Creek is marked for liberation once again.

Video game giant Activision is investigating a hacking campaign that’s targeting players with the goal of stealing their credentials, TechCrunch has learned.

Stardew Valley 1.6 is upon us - and so are several follow-up patches with various bug fixes and quality-of-life upgrades. The latest is 1.6.3, and while the patch notes are very difficult to read, they do include some notable goodies.

Despite Helldivers 2 players being encouraged to move away from their enthusiastic bug-squashing in favor of some brutal bot-smashing, there are still a surprising amount of Helldivers not joining in on the latest Major Order, which isn't very democratic of them. 

Stellar Blade doesn't have a photo mode, but its developer will consider adding one if fans make enough noise, and we're sure they will.

Dragon's Dogma 2 is going down incredibly well with critics and fans alike (aside from on PC where it sits at "Mostly Negative" due to performance issues and MTX). But fans have one big grievance that the community has been complaining about since the first game launched in 2012.

It's a busy spell for fans of Final Fantasy, and fantasy RPGs in general. Many folks are still working through Baldur's Gate 3 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, but Dragon's Dogma 2 just dropped and Elden Ring expansion Shadow of the Erdtree arrives in June. The second Final Fantasy XVI DLC, The Rising Tide, will drop on April 18. On top of all that, Square Enix has revealed that Dawntrail, the fifth expansion for Final Fantasy XIV Online, will arrive on July 2. Phew.

Princess Peach: Showtime! is here, giving the Mushroom Kingdom monarch a chance to break out of the damsel role and do a little world-saving of her own. While the game is largely pitched to younger audiences, there are still a few things about the game that might inspire questions, and we’re here to help!

Skaven are confirmed to be making a grand return for the next edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar in Summer 2024.

Life Makeover x Sanrio characters is a crossover that all of us who love dressing up badly needed. I don’t think I need to introduce Sanrio, the folks behind Hello Kitty. So, get ready for a fresh wave of super cute gear and outfits from Sanrio!

Each month the fine folks over at Niantic and The Pokémon Company give us a selection of 5-star Raid Battles in Pokémon Go.

After much anticipation, X-Men ’97, a direct continuation to X-Men: The Animated Series from the 1990s, hits Disney Plus this week. But it’s not the first time Marvel has dusted off the old series and revived it for a nostalgic new millennium.

The CRKD Nitro Deck made some big plays into the Switch controller market when it launched last year. As someone who's always struggled to stay comfy with the Nintendo Switch's smaller size, I was really content with the Nitro Deck's chunkier build and futureproofed design. 

With only one week to go, your chances to back Ostia Pirates is slowly fading away. Listen folks, take it from me, if you want to pick up a game from UCHIBACOYA you do not want to wait. These games generally will not hit retaliers in the West, and I’ve already disappointed myself by missing out on their games multiple times. Yes, the price might be a bit concerning, but these are games that hold their value and will be something you are happy to have in your board game collection!

Microsoft's latest Xbox Series X sweepstakes features a Fallout-themed vault that probably won't fit in most folks' gaming setups.

Industry veteran Marcus Lehto has said he hasn't said much about his recent departure from EA because he has nothing nice to say about the company.

RuneScape creator and Jagex founder Andrew Gower recently revealed his next MMO, Brighter Shores, which has been in the works at his new studio, Fen Research, for about 10 years. That said, it's technically seven years if you separate engine time, prototyping, and "earnest" game development.

While it can be nice to have some feedback when doing things with your PlayStation 5, one little sound can be irritating to some folks: the beep that plays every time you turn your console off and on. Luckily, if you'd like to reduce the volume of this beep, or even turn it off altogether, Sony has added the ability for you to do that. Below, we'll tell you how to access the settings to make it happen.

Is this headline bait-y as hell? You bet your butt it is. Am I giving too much credence, allowing too much room, for Cody detractors? Abso-f***in-lutely. There are going to be fans who are Team Cody and there will be those who are Team Roman, or Team Rock, or just plain Team Bloodline, but the way the wrestling wind usually blows, Cody’s taking this. He's winning. Whether he loses Night 1 and wins Night 2 or just flippin’ wins both nights, this story’s getting finASHED.

The villains of a galaxy far, far away are just as iconic as its heroes, and it seems like the folks over at Ravensburger agree with the latest expansion to Star Wars Villainous. 

The undercurrent of propaganda that shapes Helldivers 2's obnoxiously yet endearingly democratic universe has truly boiled over in the wake of conflicting, definitely real reports from the game's community and developers alike.

CounterSide SEA server is set to merge with the global server soon. We kind of saw it coming after Japan did the same thing last year. The CounterSide SEA server was run by ZlongGames till now. This strategic decision kicks off on May 16, 2024. Keep reading to get the full scoop!

Virtual reality can be an expensive hobby, but it doesn’t have to be. For many gamers and folks who want to get into VR fitness, the Meta Quest 2 headset is the best place to start. It has an established library of games and apps, including a stellar VR remake of Resident Evil 4, Beat Saber, Supernatural, Headspace’s new meditation app, the most immersive version of Tetris Effect you could ever hope to experience, along with many others that are worth trying. Plus, it doesn’t require any wires to use, letting you roam without worry that you’re getting tangled up as you play.

Moon Studios, the folks behind the Ori platformer games, are working on a new project titled No Rest For The Wicked. The game is a Soulslike ARPG that was announced at The Game Awards late last year. The studio’s “Wicked Inside” livestream gave fans their first extended look at the game and we’ve got the details.

Fans of the Halo universe can rejoice. While certain TV shows have been letting the side down a bit, it looks like the upcoming miniatures game is on the right path already.

Baldur's Gate 3 has 11 playable species, from drow to githyanki to dragonborn, but given how many exist in Dungeons & Dragons, there were always going to be favourites left out. Luckily, the modding community is hard at work on bringing an even wider range of options to the game.

One of the keys to truly getting the most out of the dark looter-shooter Remnant II is finding some folks to team up with, but unfortunately, players' ability to do that has been somewhat limited by the fact that the game hasn’t supported crossplay. Well, thankfully, that changes today as Gunfire Games and publisher Gearbox have announced the addition of crossplay to the game. Here’s what Remnant II director David Adams had to say about the new feature…

Nintendo is suing the makers of Yuzu, an open-source Nintendo Switch emulator, according to a lawsuit filed in Rhode Island court on Monday. Game File reporter Stephen Totilo first reported the suit.

Helldivers, we have a problem. Undemocratic bug fodder has infested the ranks of Helldivers 2, and the toxic behavior of these players is putting a damper on what should be a glorious campaign for Super Earth. 

A new Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth booklet is catching fans' attention thanks to one short story that holds clues to a mystery everyone has been mulling over since the original JRPG launched 27 years ago. 

There are plenty of new shows this week, but I will do the rare cheat out and tell you I already have a favorite: Shōgun.

Some people like World of Warcraft because of the interaction with other players. The promise of a massively multi-player online game is a community of folks to pal around with. But, some players wish they could just go on a big single-player adventure. The upcoming Hardcore Self-Found Mode aims to grant the latter WoW Classic players their wish on February 29.

Upon first impressions, I argued that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is a monotonous, uninspired ordeal. The introduction to Metropolis drags along, only to feel worse thanks to messy presentation and unintuitive mechanics, though I admit the latter may be a product of my own faults. Those early thoughts still stand, as Kill the Justice League doesn’t offer an enticing first few hours. Eventually, some of those pieces improve. Others, not so much.  

Ah, it’s a new day, full of Nintendo news. We got our first Nintendo Direct of the year today with a Partner Showcase, spotlighting games arriving in the first half of 2024 for the Switch.

March 8 is not far off now. But for those a little too impatient for then, a small slice of Unicorn Overlord is on the way for Switch owners today through a demo, to tide you over until then.

The ballooning popularity of Helldivers 2 has been both a blessing and a curse for Arrowhead.