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Amazon has announced that, effective August 28, Prime members will no longer receive 20% off of video game pre-orders. Instead, the online retailer will implement a new benefit that gives customers a $10 Amazon credit for pre-ordering select games. Depending on how many games that ends up being, this could severely cut the savings Prime members receive when buying new games.

Amazon has offered the 20% pre-order discount since 2016, effectively bringing the price of a standard $60 game down to $48 for Prime members, saving $12 right off the bat. It was a good deal, because games don’t tend to go on sale or get discounts for several months after release.

Best Buy used to offer a similar benefit to members of its Gamers Club Unlocked program, but the company quietly shuttered the program in May. Best Buy also replaced it with a deal that gets My Best Buy members a $10 coupon for pre-ordering select games–but at the time of this writing, the selection is limited to 10 games. Effectively, the new pre-order benefits at both Best Buy and Amazon are less valuable and more limited than they were previously.

“More limited” has been the trajectory of the Amazon Prime pre-order deal for some time now. When it first started, Amazon offered the 20%-off deal to Prime members who bought a game within two weeks of launch. It limited the deal strictly to pre-orders last year. And in July, Amazon updated its terms and conditions to eliminate re-releases and remasters from the deal.

In related news, Twitch also also announced that its ad-free viewing benefit with Prime is going away for new members on September 14.

If you’re a Prime member who’s looking forward to any games this fall or early next year, it’s probably worth pre-ordering them before August 28. For suggestions, here’s our top pre-order guides for upcoming games.

Just prior to the start of Gamescom 2018, Activision announced the official release date and a new edition for From Software’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. The Collector’s Edition of Sekiro will release alongside the normal version on March 22, 2019.

“We can’t wait for fans to finally get their hands on Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice,” said Steve Young, chief revenue officer at Activision. “Fans will get a taste of the multiple tools available for the prosthetic shinobi arm this week at Gamescom, and will be able to fully dive into the brutal, dark world of 1500s Sengoku Japan when the game launches [this March].”

Sekiro’s Collector’s Edition includes the full game contained in a steelbook case, as well as a 7″ shinobi statue, art book, physical map, digital soundtrack, and replica game coins. It is now available for pre-order.

Directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki–who previously oversaw Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Dark Souls 3–Sekiro is a third-person, action-adventure RPG that borrows many of its mechanics from the Soulsborne games. Sekiro adds a few new features to the fan-favorite formula, the most notable of which is the ability to die twice by quickly resurrecting from a hasty death. Sword combat has also received a few changes by incorporating both Prosthetic Tools, such as the Grappling Hook, and special Sword Arts to supplement regular attacks.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice will release for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.

Pokemon Go players will soon have a chance to add another Mythical Pokemon to their collections. Niantic has announced it is kicking off a new Special Research questline in the game next week, beginning August 20, and those who complete enough of the tasks will be able to encounter the Time Travel Pokemon Celebi. [Update: The Special Research quest to get Celebi is now available in Pokemon Go.]

This isn’t the first time Celebi has appeared in Pokemon Go; players who attended the Pokemon Go Fest event in Chicago earlier this summer were able to encounter the Mythical Pokemon by completing an exclusive batch of Special Research tasks, but this marks the first opportunity all players around the world will have a chance to capture it.

Celebi made its series debut in Pokemon Gold and Silver, and its impending arrival in Go is bringing out other Pokemon originally from the Johto region. Niantic says new Field Research quests relating to Gen 2 Pokemon will also be available, and Johto-inspired avatar items will be added to the in-game store. All players will be able to claim a Celebi shirt for free, while HeartGold and SoulSilver outfits will be unlocked as players make progress on their Johto medal.

In addition to a chance to encounter Celebi, completing the new set of Special Research tasks will reward players with XP and items. Those who’ve already captured the Mythical Pokemon at Pokemon Go Fest, meanwhile, will earn Candy to power their Celebi up. To take part in the new Special Research, you will first need to have completed the third set of Mew Special Research tasks. You can read more details on the Pokemon Go website.

In the meantime, Pokemon Go players can still take advantage of the ongoing trading event. Until August 19, trades will cost 25% less Stardust than usual, and players will be able to earn up to six Candies for each trade. Niantic also recently shared the first details on next month’s Community Day, which takes place on September 22 and features the Gen 2 starter Pokemon, Chikorita.

The long-rumored Nintendo Switch version of Diablo III was, at long last, confirmed just recently, and it’s on the way to the platform sometime this fall. It doesn’t mark the first console edition of the game–it’s available on both PS4 and Xbox One–but it is the first Blizzard game on a Nintendo platform in nearly two decades. More importantly, it represents a way to play Diablo portably. So, just how does it hold up?

Quite well, as you can see in the gameplay video above. While it may lack some of the fidelity of the PC version, Diablo III: Eternal Collection runs quite smoothly on Switch. It includes the same adjustments that the PS4 and Xbox One versions use to make the game–which was originally designed for PC’s keyboard-and-mouse control scheme–work on a TV screen using a controller. Of course, the Switch version can also be played portably, which is what you’ll see above. It also features the ability to play offline (including local co-op between systems) with the ability to upload cloud saves to Battle.net once you connect to the internet.

As the Eternal Collection name denotes, this is a complete edition of the game. You’ll get the Reaper of Souls expansion along with the subsequent Rise of the Necromancer pack; between the two, you’ll get five Acts and every class, including the Crusader and Necromancer. Adventure mode is unlocked right from the start, letting you skip the campaign (a particularly welcome feature for those coming from other platforms), and it also boasts some exclusive content. That comes in the form of Zelda-themed items, such as a transmog effect that lets you look like Ganondorf.

Diablo III does not yet have an exact release date on Switch, but Blizzard says it’s slated for a Fall 2018 launch.

Although the concept of binge-watching existed before Netflix, the streaming giant has made it easier than ever before to watch multiple episodes of a TV show in a row. As subscribers know, subsequent episodes start within a few seconds of the previous one ending, meaning you don’t have to do anything but sit there to enjoy entire seasons of your favourite series. However, it has been reported that the company has started experimenting with ads for other shows between episodes.

As reported by Ars Technica, some viewers have started seeing ads for the likes of Better Call Saul and Insatiable between episodes of popular shows such as Rick & Morty and Bob’s Burgers. The ads are being trialed for selected viewers and the company states that they are skippable.

In a statement, Netflix described the ads as “recommendations” and explained that they were to help viewers choose what else to watch. “We are testing whether surfacing recommendations between episodes helps members discover stories they will enjoy faster,” the statement read.

Netflix went on to explain that this new initiative was based on the “preview” function, which was introduced in 2016 and means that excerpts from shows autoplay whenever a user scrolls over its thumbnail. “A couple of years ago, we introduced video previews to the TV experience, because we saw that it significantly cut the time members spend browsing and helped them find something they would enjoy watching even faster,” the company stated.

According to ComicBook, it’s possible to opt out of the new ads. From the account settings area on the Netflix website, you can disable something called Test Participation. Whether that remains an option long-term, however, is unclear.

Netflix is facing increasing competition in the streaming arena. As well as the likes of Amazon and Hulu, a number of studios have started to produce new shows intended for exclusive streaming on their own subscriber platforms.

CBS All Access has become the home of Star Trek in the US, with a second season of Discovery premiering in January 2019 and Patrick Stewart due to make his return as Jean-Luc Picard in another Star Trek show. Warner will launch DC Universe later this year, with new DC series such as Titans set to premiere. Disney, meanwhile, are developing a new streaming platform that will be the home of a new live-action Star Wars show, as well as next season of the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

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