Month: November 2020

Amazon Black Friday Anime Sale Has Great Deals On Blu-Rays, Box Sets, And More

Black Friday has kicked off, and if you’re looking to spend the end of the year with some quality animation directly from Japan, Amazon’s got a terrific selection of Blu-rays and box sets at great prices. The Black Friday sale includes a number of cult classic series such as Cowboy Bebop (currently in development as a live-action series for Netflix), Black Lagoon, and Naruto Shippuden.

More modern series are also included in the Black Friday sale, like the violent fantasy epic Goblin Slayer, the twisted superhero series Zetman, and the wonderfully weird Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.

Created by Hirohiko Araki, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure lives up to its name and tells a massive tale across several generations of the Joestar bloodline. The anime adaptation of the popular manga has no shortage of weirdness and also features plenty of references to some of the best rock ‘n roll acts of the 20th century.

Several Dragon Ball Z boxsets are also on sale if you’re in the mood for world-threatening fights, and you can even experience Ash Ketchum’s Pokemon journey from an era when filling a Pokedex only required catching a few hundred Pokemon.

Best Black Friday anime deals

Many of these shows can also be streamed, if you aren’t too bothered about owning these anime films and series or having access to their special features that is. Check out our anime streaming services guide for an overview of the best options, from Crunchyroll to Funimation.

Sega Genesis Mini Gets Black Friday Price Drop At Amazon

Black Friday has no shortage of current-gen game deals, but if you’re craving a retro gaming experience, the Sega Genesis Mini is a great option. Loaded with 42 games, it’s currently available for $50 at Amazon during the store’s Black Friday sale. This isn’t the lowest price we’ve ever seen it at, but it’s still a solid purchase if you want to relive the classic Sega games of your childhood. The Sega Genesis Mini comes preloaded with 42 iconic games, such as Sonic the Hedgehog and Castlevania: Bloodlines, and it also includes two wired controllers–everything you need comes in the box.

On the plug ‘n play console, you’ll find an impressive greatest hits collection from the Genesis library. Sonic the Hedgehog, Earthworm Jim, Contra: Hard Corps, Castlevania: Bloodlines, Golden Axe, and Ecco the Dolphin still hold up quite well, and if you feel like something different you can try the underrated Eternal Warriors fighting game, the fast-paced action of Gunstar Heroes, or the classic RPG Shining Force.

“While the Mini isn’t without a few quirks, it’s heads and tails above previous software-emulation-based Genesis offerings that have plagued Sega fans for years,” wrote Peter Brown in GameSpot’s Sega Genesis Mini review. “If you want to play Genesis games but can’t afford the real thing and a stack of cartridges, the Genesis Mini should be at the top of your list.”

Here’s the full list of games available on the Sega Genesis Mini:

  • Ecco the Dolphin
  • Castlevania: Bloodlines
  • Space Harrier 2
  • Shining Force
  • Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
  • Toe Jam & Earl
  • Comix Zone
  • Sonic the Hedgehog
  • Altered Beast
  • Gunstar Heroes
  • Earthworm Jim
  • Castle of Illusion
  • Shinobi III
  • Contra: Hard Corps
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 2
  • World of Illusion
  • Thunder Force III
  • Super Fantasy Zone
  • Streets of Rage 2
  • Landstalkers.
  • Beyond Oasis
  • Ghouls ‘n Ghosts
  • Alex Kidd
  • Golden Axe
  • Phantasy Star IV
  • Street Fighter 2
  • Mega Man: The Wily Wars
  • Sonic Spinball
  • Vectorman
  • Wonderboy in Monster World
  • Virtua Fighter 2
  • Alisia Dragoon
  • Columns
  • Dynamite Headdy
  • Strider
  • Kid Chameleon
  • Light Crusader
  • Monster World IV
  • Eternal Champions
  • Road Rash II
  • Tetris
  • Darius

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Fortnite Recreates 100 Thieves Cash App Compound In-Game

Fortnite and esports team 100 Thieves have come together to create an in-game version of the 100 Thieves Cash App Compound.

Located in Fortnite Creative’s Welcome Hub, the Compound offers players four themed quests tied to 100 Thieves’ members, including Nadeshot, CouRage, Valkyrae, and BrookeAB. Upon completion, players can explore new areas of the Compound and find other surprises.

Fortnite and 100 Thieves will also hold a contest and fans can participate for a chance to get a VIP Fortnite swag bag, merch from the 100 Thieves Jam Collection line, and more. Fans can enter the contest by taking a screenshot or video recording their favorite Fortnite character in the in-game 100 Thieves Compound. Then they’ll need to upload the content on social media and tag the post with #100TCreative, as well as the handles @100Thieves and @FNCreate. Participants need to submit their post by December 1.

Fortnite’s Creative Hub allows players to create and customize their own island. It offers plenty of pre-fab options, and players can use a wide range of walls, furniture, and other items from anything that currently exists in the game. Creative mode not only lets players design their own environment, but it also allows creators to set their own gameplay rules. Battle pass owners are given four islands to start with and can keep an island’s server active for a maximum of four hours.

The battle royale game is also nearing the end of its latest season, and Supervillain Galactus will arrive to conclude Fortnite Season 4 on December 1. The Galactus event begins at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET, but Epic recommends players hop into the game an hour before the start time. In other news, a Fortnite leak suggests The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda skins will come to the game. Players speculate that a Star Wars-themed season could be in store for the future.

Now Playing: Fortnite – Subscription Announcement Trailer (Fortnite Crew)

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Best Black Friday SSD And HDD Hard Drive Deals

With new consoles out this fall, it’s the perfect time to pick up an external hard drive to store your games on. Black Friday 2020 has a selection of excellent SSD and HDD deals on some of the best ones, too, making it easy to save some money on extra storage. Amazon and Best Buy have some particularly great Black Friday deals, including discounts on Samsung’s popular T5 and T7 portable SSDs as well as the ultra-fast Seagate FireCuda gaming SSD. While SSDs are fast, they don’t have as much storage, so there are also several great HDD options, including the 5TB WD Black game drive and an assortment of Seagate external drives.

If you have an Xbox Series X/S, then you can store next-gen games on your external drive. However, you will need to transfer them back to the console when you want to play them. Backwards-compatible games, on the other hand, can be stored and played on external drives and see some benefits to load times when compared to the Xbox One X. The PS5, on the other hand, does not let you store next-gen games on external drives, and while you can play backwards-compatible games on them, you don’t see a significant improvement in loading.

If you’re looking for more Black Friday deals, don’t forget to check out the best PS5 and PS4 deals as well as the best Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One deals. There are a lot of different games and accessories on sale this year, and a new generation is always the best time to get new gear for your next-gen console. And if you want to play on the best screen possible, check out the best Black Friday TV deals, which include a number of discounted models with HDMI 2.1 ports.

$65 for 2TB | $120 for 5TB

WD Black is Western Digital’s gaming-focused line of storage, offering drives that are made specifically for use with PlayStation and Xbox consoles as well as with PCs. External HDDs aren’t known for their speed, with their real draw being storage space. You can get a WD Black 5TB game drive for only $120 during Black Friday. It works perfectly for backwards-compatible games on both PS5 and Xbox Series X.

$70 (was $110)

Seagate’s 2TB game drives are reliable hard drives that run up to 625MB/s and feature specific branding for PlayStation or Xbox. In addition to the black PlayStation drive and the green Xbox drive, there are a number of branded drives for games like Cyberpunk, Halo, and The Last of Us (though they are more expensive at the moment). And no matter which drive you buy, it will work on either console–even if you have a PS5 and the drive says Xbox.

$80 for 500GB | $149 for 1TB

If you’re looking for more speed than a hard drive can offer, an external SSD is the way to go. Samsung’s T7 portable SSD has speeds up to 1,050MB/s, making it a fast drive that’s capable of loading your games very quickly. For Black Friday, you can get 1TB for $149 (was $200) or 500GB for only $80 (was $110).

$70 for 500GB | $130 for 1TB

If the T7 is out of stock, then the T5 is still worth the money. It has speeds of up to 540MB/s, which is about half as fast as the T7 but is still a significant amount of speed. It’s capable of loading games significantly faster than a hard drive.

$149 (was $180)

Seagate makes great portable SSDs, and its Barracuda model is an excellent choice. It has a slim profile and speeds up to 540MB/s. During Black Friday, you can get the 1TB model for $149, down from $180.

$90 for 500GB | $140 for 1TB

SanDisk’s portable SSD is built for taking on the go. It features a clip loop that you can use to attach it to your backpack or belt and boasts speeds of up to 1,050MB/s. During Black Friday, you can snag its 500GB model for $90 (down from $150) or its 1TB model for $140 (down from $250).

$150 (was $200)

If you’re looking for the best of the best, the Seagate FireCuda gaming SSD is by far the fastest drive on this list. It kicks things off with speeds of up to 2,000 MB/s, but it also features customizable Razer Chroma RGB lighting on PC. If you’d rather have speed over storage, then this is the one to go with. You can also get a 2TB model for $400, down from $500.

GTA 5 Online Adds Triple Rewards And Black Friday Deals

The latest update for Grand Theft Auto V Online is out now, adding triple rewards in Deadline and King of the Hill. There are also double rewards to earn in Open Wheel Races and a variety of Black Friday deals available if you want to snag a bargain vehicle.

Deadline, the Tron-inspired battle royale, is paying out triple the usual GTA$ and RP through December 9, while all King of the Hill game modes are paying out three-times the GTA$ and RP to all players whether you win or lose. Meanwhile, all Rockstar created Open Wheel Races are paying out double the rewards through December 9, and logging in before that date will also net you a free white and red Nagasaki Tee.

If you head to The Diamond Casino and Resort this week, you can take a free spin on The Lucky Wheel to try and win this week’s top prize: the Benefactor BR8 open wheel racecar. You also have the chance to win GTA$, RP, clothing, mystery prizes, and more.

From November 27 – 30, GTA Online is running its own Black Friday sale, including up to 70$ off Warstock and Elitás favorites.

Here are all the Black Friday deals in full:

  • Declasse Scramjet – 60% off
  • Imponte Ruiner 2000 – 60% off
  • Ocelot Stromberg – 60% off
  • Principe Deveste Eight – 60% off
  • Nagasaki Shotaro – 70% off
  • Terrorbyte – 70% off
  • Terrorbyte Upgrades & Modifications – 70% off
  • Pegassi Oppressor – 50% off
  • Pegassi Oppressor Mk II – 50% off
  • RM-10 Bombushka – 70% off
  • B-11 Strikeforce – 70% off
  • Buckingham Luxor – 70% off
  • Buckingham Luxor Deluxe – 70% off
  • Buckingham Swift (including Swift with Flying Bravo) – 70% off
  • Buckingham Swift Deluxe – 70% off

Aside from this, there are also a number of other discounts. All Nightclubs are 40% off this week, with 30% off their upgrades and modifications. The Large Special Cargo Warehouse is 30%, and you can also get 30% off the Ocelot R88, Dinka Vindicator, Western Rampart Rocket, and Shitzu Hakuchou Drag. The Annis RE-7B is 40% off, too.

GTA Online players who have their Rockstar Games Social Club account linked to Prime Gaming will also receive GTA$200 for playing anytime this week. You will also receive the Vespucci Canals Nightclub location for free, plus 80% off the Imponte Nightshade and 60% off of the Declasse DR1.

In other GTA Online news, Rockstar recently announced the Cayo Perico heist. The latest heist differs from those that preceded it by taking place on an entirely new location, the titular Cayo Perico island.

Now Playing: Grand Theft Auto 5 PS5 Trailer | Sony PS5 Reveal Event

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What Is DLSS And Should You Use It?

If you’re a PC gamer you might have noticed a new setting popping up in your games as of late, DLSS. And because you clicked on this video then you probably saw that setting and went, “I don’t know what that is. Should I turn it on? What does it do?” Well that’s what we’re gonna answer for you.

The above video explains how DLSS works for your PC, and how games like Cyberpunk 2077, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, and Watch Dogs: Legion utilize it.

Rockstar Is Surprised At How Many Red Dead Online Players Embrace The Gritty Old West Lifestyle

A year and a half after it debuted as an online companion to Red Dead Dead Redemption 2, Red Dead Online has managed to create a unique identity for itself in the competitive online gaming space as a gritty and realistic cowboy simulator that offers a more meditative experience.

While you can play Red Dead Online as an outlaw roaming the Wild West in pursuit of a high noon shootout, many of the game’s players prefer to eke out a living as naturalists and moonshiners, enjoying a more pacifistic approach to the old frontier that Rockstar created.

“With Red Dead Online, we’re trying to deliver every aspect of what it might be like to live in frontier America in the late 1800s, so it offers a huge variety of options for players to create the experience they want within that world,” Tarek Hamad, director of design production at Rockstar North, said to GamesRadar. “By designing it in this way, there’s room for players of all kinds.”

“At the same time, we do see a large portion of the community enjoy some of the more solitary and calm pursuits on offer. We’ve made sure to provide just as much freedom for players who want to live a peaceful life as a hunter, or tending to their camp, or a burgeoning business owner – or even become a deadly bounty hunter that can protect the peaceful players of the world from the scoundrels. How all these different players interact really paints a picture of what it would be like to live and breathe in that era.”

On December 1, Red Dead Online will be available as a standalone game on PC and consoles. Red Dead Online will have an introductory price of $5 until February 2021, after which it will be sold for $20.

GTA Online is also preparing to separate itself from Grand Theft Auto V, although you’ll have to wait until 2021 to roam the streets of Los Santos in that standalone game.

Now Playing: Red Dead Online – Official Halloween Pass Event Trailer

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How Sex And Relationships Work In Cyberpunk 2077

Night City is packed with characters to meet, and building these relationships plays a huge role in Cyberpunk 2077. Phil Hornshaw recently played 16 hours of Cyberpunk and walks us through how forging relationships works.

He talks about building a relationship with a braindance editor called Judy, and how she and other characters will text V just to check in, or to offer side quests (we’re not sure if they’ll ask you to go bowling though). Keanu Reeves’ Johnny Silverhand is almost always present in the game, so Phil discusses how your character, V, approaches that relationship. Given the game’s mature themes, Phil also lets us know what we can expect from the romance scenes.

Cyberpunk 2077 launches on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Google Stadia on December 10.

Wolcen: Lords Of Mayhem Is Getting A Big Gameplay Rework Soon

Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem launched earlier this year in a rough state, with numerous technical issues and some unbalanced gameplay souring a visually striking actionRPG. It’s been a while since developer Wolcen Studio provided an update on the game, but it turns out the studio has been working on the first part of a major gameplay and content update over the past few months.

Chronicle I: Bloodtrail is the first of these updates that will be entirely free for all Wolcen players, adding in new gameplay changes, economy updates, and content to the game. The update is said to be coming soon in the announcement on Steam, with specific details about the patch coming closer to release.

One change that Wolcen Studio did detail is the split this update will create moving forward. Any characters you currently have in Wolcen will be marked as “legacy”, while new ones will be tied to the new content. Since the entire economy is being reworked, Wolcen Studio will not allow players to trade between legacy and new characters, but will still support legacy play through a separate Legacy game mode that delivers the same experience pre-patch.

Since launch, Wolcen Studio has addressed critical bugs and performance issues across 17 patches, but says it has been quietly observing player feedback while crafting this new content.

“These last months, we’ve been preparing for Chronicle I: Bloodtrail, and although we chose to remain silent, we’ve been listening to your feedback and used them to enhance the game experience and improve the foundations of Wolcen,” the post reads.

Bloodtrail has a lot to remedy, however, as was made clear in GameSpot’s 4/10 Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem review at launch. “It has all the elements in place to become another engrossing time sink, but it doesn’t execute well enough on any of them to make it worthwhile,” reads the review.

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