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The latest event for Apex Legends, Grand Soirée Arcade, has officially begun. The limited-time event will continue through to January 28, offering seven brand-new modes to play and several new legendary character skins to unlock. The event launched with an accompanying update, which implemented several nerfs and buffs for different characters, bug fixes, and hints to Season 4 content.

In terms of the playable legend meta, Gibraltar and Crypto have both been buffed while Wraith has been nerfed. Gibraltar now has a third passive: faster squadmate revival while inside his Dome Shield. Crypto’s drone is now much harder to kill–having 30 health instead of 1–and the EMP it creates no longer affects squadmates’ traps or slows them down. Friendlies will still take shield damage, though.

When activating both Into the Void and Dimensional Rift, Wraith will now only move at the combined speed of both abilities without the added boost she had before. The cooldown to use Into the Void has been increased from 25 seconds to 35, which will make it harder to rely on the ability multiple times in the midst of a firefight or when escaping the zone wall.

As stated before, the update also addresses several bug fixes–the majority of which are outlined in the full patch notes below. However, of note, is a fix to the bug that was causing the character select screen to only display your own skins, not that of your teammates. The community has been vocal about the issue since prior to the Holo-Day Bash event, so it’s nice to see it finally addressed.

The most interesting change in the update is the removal of extended energy mags, taking away the option to expand the overall clip size of the Triple-Take sniper rifle, Havoc assault rifle, and Devotion light machine gun. Though the Triple-Take’s default clip size is unchanged, the Havoc’s magazine is now 32 shots and the Devotion’s magazine is 44. In the patch notes, Respawn writes “that the removal of energy mags seems a bit odd, but it will make much more sense with the release of Season 4,” before going on to admit the change went live by mistake and wasn’t supposed to until the start of the next season.

Though it doesn’t confirm it, the removal of extended energy mags does seem to support the rumors that the Volt submachine gun is coming to Apex Legends in the near future, continuing the trend of repurposing Titanfall 2 weapons for the battle royale. In Titanfall 2, the Volt is one of the best weapons for use on the move, as it has the best hip-fire accuracy of any firearm and excellent range. If the Volt is added to Apex Legends, it likely will be as an energy weapon. Having an option to extend its clip size could possibly make the gun too powerful, especially when used by characters that can fight while moving at high speeds through the air, like Octane and Pathfinder.

Apex Legends January 14 Update Patch Notes

General Bug Fixes

• Fixes for various script and code errors that were causing crashes.
• Fixed a bug where the out of bounds timer would not display when perching on top of some buildings in Capitol City.
• Fix for cases we saw where players would receive a client error when fighting Wattson.
• Fixed issue with Octane’s Laughing Fool skin blocking player vision when using the 1x Holo Sight.
• Fixed issue where players could get into unintentional hiding spots in the Train tunnels and around multiple buildings on the map.
• Fixed bug where the minimap was showing an incorrect view of the landscape east of the Sorting Factory and Capitol City.
• Fixed bug where the trajectory line wouldn’t appear when trying to aim ordnance.
• Fixes for cases where the final circle was ending in a bad location.
• Fixed an issue with the Ghouls and Ghost Peacekeeper skin not displaying the correct animation in-game.
• Fixed the bug where a squadmate selects a character in Legend Select and the Legend is not displaying the skin that is currently equipped by the player.

Legend Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug where if anyone picks up gold shields while inside of a Gibraltar dome shield they will receive 63% faster healing when it should stay at 50%
• Fixed a couple of bugs with Bloodhound Passive skill: players could not see timers when looking at enemy tracks [clues] and tracks would expire 30 seconds sooner than expected.
• Fixed bug where Wraith could take damage from Thermite ordnance while using her Tactical or Ultimate abilities.
• Fixed visual bug for when Crypto first drops into game, the Drone UI reports that it is “recharging” (as if it has been destroyed pre-drop), but progress does not complete / progress.
• Fix for Wattson’s Ultimate to prevent being able to deploy an Interceptor Pylon through walls.

Legend Meta

• Gibraltar
  • Passive: Gibraltar revives squadmates faster while inside the Dome Shield.
• Wraith
  • Removed the bonus move speed Into the Void and Dimensional Rift at the same time. Wraith will now move at their combined movement speed when they are both activated.
  • Increased cooldown for Into the Void: 25 seconds -> 35 seconds.
• Crypto
  • Drone and EMP improvements.
  • Surveillance Drone increased the health 1 -> 30.
  • EMP no longer affects friendly traps/deployables.
  • EMP no longer slows friendlies.

Change To Energy Mags

• Extended Energy Mags removed
• HAVOC mag size: 32
• Devotion mag size: 44
• Designer Notes: We know that the removal of energy mags seems a bit odd, but it will make much more sense with the release of Season 4! It takes a while to make the bigger changes you see in the new season updates, and we generally make sure to filter out these changes from preceding mid-season updates. This time we made a mistake and shipped a change that wasn’t intended to go live until Season 4.

Tournament Mode

This feature is limited to approved partners and allows them to arrange private player matches, record live footage via game client spectators, and view match results. Our goal here is to provide great tools for tournament organizers for setting up teams and matches at events and a better spectating experience for fans.

Few versions of Windows have seen such lasting dedication as Windows 7 has since its release. In the same way so many people refused to upgrade from Windows XP until the last possible moment (and many refused long after WinXP was declared officially dead), Windows 7 usership persists. But the day of reckoning has come for Windows 7: as of January 14, 2020, Microsoft no longer supports the Windows 7 operating system at all.

Technically, Microsoft ended Windows 7 support in 2015. Today marks the end of “extended support,” meaning no more updates or bug fixes. Windows 7 will become more unusable and dangerous the longer you put off upgrading. It’s a ghost now, and you’re merely occupying the empty husk of a once living operating system. It’s time to upgrade to Windows 10.

Windows 10: OEM or Retail?

If you’ve searched around for a copy of Windows 10, you might have noticed some of the less expensive versions are “OEM” or “for System Builders.” At Newegg, the OEM install for Windows 10 is $109, while the retail Windows 10 version lists on Amazon for around $129.99. That price difference is because the retail version includes Microsoft support and can be migrated to a PC with a different motherboard later on, where the OEM version matches itself to one motherboard and one motherboard only.

If you just completed assembling a sweet gaming PC, go ahead and treat yourself to the savings and get the OEM version. If you want instead to migrate the Windows 10 license to a whole new computer later on, and feel like you’d sleep easier with the full weight of Microsoft’s support team, go ahead and get the retail version. You can also find it on Microsoft’s site for $139.99.

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Windows 10: Home or Pro?

Unless you really want to have the best possible sig in forum posts to your favorite PC gaming messageboard, there is absolutely no compelling reason for you to spend the extra money on Windows 10 Pro if you’re a home user. All its professional features are designed for enterprise, not for normal or even power-users. Your PC will not run better or faster with a copy of Windows 10 Pro. [poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=Your%20PC%20will%20not%20run%20better%20or%20faster%20with%20a%20copy%20of%20Windows%2010%20Pro.”]Pro offers some great features for enterprise users like kiosk mode, support for Azure Active Directory and many more features you will never, ever need. A case could be made for Pro’s encryption features versus Home, but they’re overkill or not well-suited for non-enterprise users. If you want to spend the $40 extra to feel like a Windows champion, I’m not going to be able to talk you out of it. But if you don’t want to waste money for features with no applications for a personal-use experience, just buy and install Windows 10 Home.

Windows 10: 64-bit or 32-bit?

It’s still possible to buy 32-bit versions of Windows 10, and for some specialized computer set-ups, that’s all you’d really need. However, unlike Windows 10 Home versus Windows 10 Pro, you will see a drastic difference in performance with 32-bit over 64-bit. It’s not the OS but the limits a 32-bit architecture has on memory. Most applications and games require at least 8GB of RAM to run, and personally, 8GB is about as low as I’d recommend anyone go when it comes to RAM.

A 32-bit operating system is only able to address a maximum of around 3.5GB of RAM, whereas a 64-bit OS can address 16 exibytes, or 2^64 bytes. We’re a ways off from hitting that ceiling, but the days of 4GB or less are way behind us. Don’t be tempted by a lower price: whatever version of Windows 10 (or any OS for that matter) you get, make sure it’s 64-bit.

Windows 10: Beware of Counterfeits

Since dropping $100 on the least-glamorous part of a PC build is something many of us would rather avoid, there’s a real market for shady counterfeiters to sell used or completely useless Windows 10 installations or keys. Make sure you buy from a trusted source, and even on Amazon it can get a little muddled trying to decipher which Windows 10 sellers are legit and which aren’t (check the reviews, you’re bound to see people bringing it up).[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=Make%20sure%20you%20buy%20from%20a%20trusted%20source.”] The best possible place is from Microsoft itself, but if you sort Amazon search results for “Prime” with “Amazon” as the seller, you can find legitimate copies without worry. Other places to check include Newegg, Best Buy, office supply stores, and basically any place you’ve both heard of and trust.

How to Go From Windows 7 to Windows 10 for Free

If you were an early Window 10 adopter, Microsoft let you upgrade free of charge. It was great news for those of us who suffered greatly under the brief, but tyrannical, rule of Windows 8/8.1. Much as Vista made people cling to their beloved Windows XP, Windows 8/8.1 and its crappiness had the same effect for Windows 7 users. The Windows 10 free upgrade program officially ended a while ago, but you might still be able to upgrade from Windows 7 to 10 for free. The process is pretty simple and seems to work for just about everyone who tries it. Certainly worth a shot.

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Seth Macy is IGN’s tech and commerce editor and just wants to be your friend. Find him on Twitter @sethmacy.

Every week, Destiny 2 sees a refresh for all its weekly activities. The rotation changes which things you need to do to earn Powerful and Pinnacle gear, so paying attention to what key activities are available and where you need to go to do them is essential to continually grow your character’s Power. With the Season of Dawn progressing with new content dropping periodically, you’re going to want to continually hit each week’s activities for new gear, so you can play the game’s toughest (and most rewarding) activities.

In addition to the weekly rotation of activities, this week also saw the release of a strange new quest: “Exploring the Corridors of Time.” The Destiny 2 community is currently working on solving the quest, which is full of puzzles. To start it, visit Osiris on Mercury.

Weekly Reset For January 14

Flashpoint

Crucible Rotator Playlists:

• Clash
• Breakthrough

Nightfall: The Ordeal

• Pyramidion

Nightmare Hunts

• Isolation (Taniks, The Scarred; drops Dreambane Gauntlets)
• Servitude (Zydron, Gate Lord; drops Dream Breaker Fusion Rifle)
• Pride (Skolas, Kell of Kells; drops Dreambane Helmet)

Sundial

• Boss: Tazaroc, the Sun Eater
• Modifiers: Barrier Champions, Unstoppable Champions, Brawler, Solar Singe

Raid Challenges

• With Both Hands (Crown of Sorrow)
• Summoning Ritual (Last Wish)
• To Each Their Own (Scourge of the Past)

Escalation Protocol

• Boss: Naksud, The Famine (drops Ikelos Shotgun, Ikelos Sniper Rifle, or Ikelos SMG)

Dreaming City

• Medium Curse (Petra Venj is in the Divalian Mists)
• Ascendant Challenge: Cimmerian Garrison, Week 6

Menagerie

• Boss: Pagouri, Vex Hydra
• Heroic Modifiers: Extinguish, Match Game, Attrition, Arc Singe

Sony made a surprising announcement before the end of 2019 — an official $29 add-on for the DualShock 4, the Back Button Attachment. A somewhat cumbersome addition to the controller that adds backtouch paddles, making the DualShock more akin to the Xbox Elite Controller or various other third-party gamepads.

I’ve been using it for a little over a week, and while it took some getting used to after 20-something years of the familiar DualShock form, I’ve actually grown to love using the extra buttons, and hope that it indicates what we might expect with the PS5’s controller.

What Is the PS4 Back-Button Attachment?

Sony’s newest peripheral is an attachment that plugs into the DualShock 4’s EXT port and headphone jack (it includes a passthrough if you still want to plug in a mic and/or headphones). It includes two additional buttons, which fan out from the center of the controller and rest against the handles of the DualShock, meeting in the middle at a circular OLED screen, which can be pressed in to program or view which buttons these two new ones represent.

And those two buttons can be programmed to pretty much replicate every button on the DualShock 4, whether they be face buttons, triggers, or directional pad…directions.

A Cumbersome, But Comfortable, Attachment

I didn’t have the best first impression of the attachment — it’s meant to snugly fit onto the DualShock as if it were originally part of the controller (more on that in a bit), which means a bit of finesse is required when plugging it in. I found myself worried I’d even break it as I tried to piece it together the first handful of times, but once I got the hang of it, I admired how durable the attachment feels when plugged in. It adds only a little weight to the controller and quickly and naturally felt right in my grip of the DualShock.

Programming it is a breeze once it’s properly synced to your controller, as the OLED screen showcases the programmed inputs and can quickly cycle through the possible inputs when in its programming state.

The buttons themselves have a welcome click, and have never felt mushy at all. Being so used to the DualShock as originally designed, I gripped the attachment loosely at first, worried I’d be accidentally clicking those buttons all the time. But the new buttons are smartly balanced — they have a good click to them, but they also don’t depress at the slightest touch. You won’t be able to grip your controller in tight frustration at a Bloodborne boss battle, per se, but the attachment allows for a much more comfortable grip than I initially expected to have.

Despite my initial concerns about snapping off its connector, I’ve really appreciated the build quality of the attachment. Obviously built to mesh with PlayStation’s original design for the DualShock 4, the Back Button Attachment is sturdy and perfectly lined up to fit with the DualShock.

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Playing With the Back Button Attachment

I’ve primarily chosen to use the back buttons as analogs for L1 and R1, so my trigger fingers never have to leave L2 and R2, while my naturally resting middle fingers can tap these new inputs. And so far it’s worked great, letting me swap weapons on the fly in Fortnite, or for quick taps of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s light R1 attacks. The other best solution, in my personal experience, has been to assign two of the directional buttons to the new inputs to minimize having to move my hand off the left thumbstick.

There are some buttons I’d personally never change them to, but allowing the back button to take on any of those inputs is a great accessibility move, and one I’m glad Sony is finally considering more. It did take a minute to get used to, though. I’ve been playing games on a DualShock largely the same way for decades, and so having to retrain my brain suddenly to ignore buttons I’ve used day after day for years was not an overnight switch. I’m still occasionally pressing the original L1 or R1 instead of these new buttons, but have enjoyed their convenience as, over time, I use them more and more.

Battery is a major consideration with this attachment. The DualShock 4 already has notoriously low battery life, especially compared to other consoles’ controllers, and this new attachment doesn’t help, obviously. It is definitely more of a drain, maybe an hour or so less on average, but I’ve learned to always have a spare DualShock 4 charged lying around after six years, so it hasn’t been much of a hurdle to overcome.

Preparation for the PS5?

And I’m definitely taking the time to get used to the buttons. Not only because I have enjoyed their convenience, but because of my sneaking suspicion about the attachment itself. Sony has not officially said anything about the attachment’s implications for the PS5’s new, still unnamed controller, but it feels like a safe bet that at least some version of the controller will feature these same back buttons.

Consider the mounting evidence — PS5 controller patents have revealed a version that includes very similar buttons. The same year as a new console’s launch is also a very peculiar time to introduce an official, first-party peripheral — an extremely rare thing this generation — that introduces something Xbox Elite controllers have had for years now.

Maybe it’s just PlayStation wanting to offer some parity with competitors and third-party controller makers. Maybe I’m just Charlie Kelly trying to uncover Pepe Silvia. But introducing this peripheral now feels like a great way to ensure players can not only become familiar with the layout but possibly even use their DualShock 4’s with the PS5. After all, it’s a move Xbox is planning with Xbox One controllers on Series X, and to allow the 106 million PS4 owners to use their DualShocks in a full capacity next-gen is not a bad reason to introduce the peripheral.

Whether the Back Button Attachment is a sign of a PS5 future to come, or just a neat, additional offering from Sony, I’m very glad to have it. Its arrival may be as odd as first trying to plug in the attachment, but after a few days playing with it, it already feels like an integral part of my PlayStation playtime. And if it’s here to stay, I’d welcome a world where it’s built into the controller.

The Taiwanese ratings board may have outed a Switch release for BioShocks 1, 2, Infinite, and the collection comprising all three.

Reported by Lootpots, BioShock Remastered, BioShock 2 Remastered, BioShock Infinite: The Complete Edition and BioShock: The Collection have all been rated for Switch. That implies that each game in the series may be sold separately, as well as in a full series pack.

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While not an official confirmation, ratings like these often pop up when a publisher is about to announce a new game release. We’ve contacted 2K Games for a statement.

When it first arrived in 2017, we gave BioShock: The Collection an 8.2 review, saying it was “a great introduction for newcomers, but returning vets will find little new here.”

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A Skies of Arcadia developer has asked fans to start a movement that aims to convince Sega to make a sequel to the game.

Kenji Hiruta, one of the programmers on the Dreamcast RPG classic, is pushing fans to join him in urging Sega to greenlight a sequel to the RPG.

-Ms.Itsuki Hoshi is the illustrator of Skies of Arcadia. (and is sooo elegant!)
-She agreed to give this autograph to an oversea fan.
-I’ll pay the fee to send it.
-I believe that if this kind of movement expands a lot, SEGA may consider to develop the sequel.

— 蛭田健司 Kenji Hiruta (@k_h00) January 13, 2020

Hiruta took to Twitter on January 13, 2020 to give away an illustration based on the game created by Skies of Arcadia illustrator Itsuki Hoshi. In the same tweet, he also said that “if this kind of movement expands a lot, SEGA may consider to develop the sequel.”

Later on that same day, Hiruta responded to a tweet by a fan pointing out that he was pushing for people to ask for Skies of Arcadia to return. “Strongly,” he tweeted, “I really really want to develop the sequel.”

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The possibility of this happening doesn’t seem completely out of the question given that fans helped Shenmue III happen – another series once owned by Sega.

However, Skies of Arcadia producer Rieko Kadama doesn’t think the game needs a sequel. She spoke to Kotaku on the topic last year while also dismissing the chance of the game being ported to PC or Nintendo Switch.

“I personally feel that [the GameCube’s] Skies of Arcadia Legends completed the “director’s cut” of the title,” Kadama said.

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The GameCube version, titled Skies of Arcadia Legends, came out in 2002. In our Skies of Arcadia Legends review we called it the “best GameCube RPG yet.”

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Chris Priestman is a freelancer who writes news for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.