The monumental highs of victory and crushing lows of narrowly losing in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s Blackout are experiences I’ve had in other battle royale games before, but the road to these memorable moments highlight a significant leap in gameplay fidelity and polish for the genre. Call of Duty’s responsive and forgiving gunplay, nimble movement, and creative but practical equipment fit beautifully into the trendy last man standing format. It’s not just a one-way street though, as the dynamic battle royale setting provides some much-needed variance and consequence to Call of Duty’s at times superficial combat loop. I did experience and see others have some technical issues that warrant concern, but when it’s running smoothly, Blackout is nothing short of the most enjoyable battle royale I’ve played to date.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Opening Weekend Had More Players Than WW2 or Black Ops 3
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 reportedly had more active players in its first three days than Call of Duty: WW2 or Black Ops 3, with sales reportedly surpassing $500 million worldwide.
According to a press release from Activision, the combined number of Black Ops 4 players across its three modes (competitive multiplayer, Zombies and Blackout) has surpassed that of Call of Duty: WWII and Call of Duty: Black Ops 3’s single player, multiplayer and Zombies modes.
Black Ops 4 has also reportedly set franchise records for most combined players, average hours played and total number of hours played on the current generation of consoles in its first three days. It also received a series record high of Twitch viewers for a Call of Duty opening weekend.
Batman Crosses a Major Line
Batman crossed a line during his big showdown with KGBeast this week.
Warning: this article contains spoilers for Batman #57!
KGBeast dealt Batman a serious blow last month when he came to Gotham and shot Nightwing through the head. The ongoing Nightwing comic is currently exploring how that injury has impacted Dickl Grayson, but this series has turned its attention to Batman’s quest for revenge. This issue features the big showdown between the Dark Knight and KGBeast, and only one walks away.
Now Streaming: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
The latest Assassin’s Creed is awesome. Join Daemon, host of Game Scoop!, as he assassinates a few ancient Grecians.
Independent Games Stores Reportedly Won’t Get Red Dead 2 Until November
A number of independently owned video game stores aren’t expecting to receive copies of Red Dead Redemption 2 until November.
As reported by Kotaku, various independent game retailers, as well as the gaming rental service GameFly, don’t believe they will get copies of the game on its release date of October 26 like major retailers including GameStop, Best Buy and more are expected to receive. Instead, many are expecting copies to arrive a week or so later.
These retailers aren’t entirely sure why this is happening, though issues of supply constraints, as well as a fears of mom-and-pop stores potentially breaking the game’s street date, were both touched on by shop owners. Some stores have noted that there’s a possibility that they could receive Xbox One copies of the game on time, though the probability that many independent retailers won’t get any copies of the game within its first week of release is reportedly high.
IGN Fan Fest: Celebrate the Year in Games With IGN This December
Come ring in the year in games at IGN’s Fan Fest, presented by Kellogg’s Wild Berry Froot Loops, an event to celebrate gaming fandom with all of our fans! The industry’s biggest personalities will be there and we want you to join us on Friday, December 7 in Los Angeles, California.
At IGN Fan Fest, you and your friends can celebrate and play the amazing games of 2018 with IGN personalities and hang out with your favorite gaming personalities, streamers, and creators of great games. It will have fun fan surprises, feature great music, and be an amazing night celebrating all things gaming. Stay tuned for more details on what’s coming to IGN Fan Fest and how you can become a part of the action!
My Dinner with Hervé Review
My Dinner with Hervé premieres Saturday, October 20 at 8/7c on HBO.
A movie 10 years in the making – with IGN first reporting on it here and then the news of Peter Dinklage playing Villechaize in 2011 here (when Preacher’s Dominic Cooper was going to co-star) – My Dinner with Hervé breaks down the final tragic hours of fizzled pop culture icon Hervé Villechaize’s life, showcasing the star’s lengthy bacchanalian final interview that occurred directly before his suicide in 1993.
Plantronics Rig 400 Pro HC Headset Review
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Plantronics’ lineup of RIG gaming headset is pretty confusing. There are RIG models designated with numbers ranging from 300 to 800, and a lot of them include additional model numbers and designators to signify some special feature(s). For any given model there could be an eSports Edition, a Pro edition, a Pro eSports edition, or HD, HS, HC, E and more variants. I’m looking at the Plantronics Rig 400 Pro HC (See it at GameStop) which is a $60 midrange model despite the word “Pro” in its name. It offers Dolby Atmos surround sound, and is compatible with PS4, PC, and Xbox. It’s basically an upgraded version of the RIG 400HX we reviewed previously.
Daily Deals: Save on Monster Hunter for Nintendo Switch and More
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Funimation Ending Its Partnership with Crunchyroll Next Month
Funimation’s partnership with Crunchyroll will come to an end on November 9, 2018.
Crunchyroll shared the news in a post on its official forums, saying:
As many of you know, we have had an ongoing partnership with Funimation the last two years, sharing anime between users. Unfortunately, Funimation has decided to go their separate way, and this partnership will be winding down on Friday, November 9.
In September of 2016, Funimation and Crunchyroll announced a partnership to share existing content across both streaming platforms, as well as new content—with Crunchyroll providing subbed simulcasts and Funimation handling English dubbed simulcasts.