The oft-delayed, always-mysterious Dead Island 2 might still be coming if a new job listing at developer Dambuster Studios is any indication. The position is for an art director to work on a recreation of Los Angeles and, “create the sun soaked backdrop to a full scale zombie apocalypse set across the iconic Californian city for the next installment in the world renowned Dead Island franchise.” The listing also references creating a title for, “current and future platforms,” potentially hinting at a cross-gen release for the game.
Things have been quiet for Dead Island 2 ever since Dambuster took over, but with this new job listing, it’s possible the team is building toward a re-reveal sometime soon. Dead Island 2 was originally set to release in 2015, but has been continually delayed thanks to its turbulent development.
Since their introduction more than two years ago, Overwatch League Tokens have rarely been given out without asking you to pay real-world money. While you’ve been able to earn a pittance for watching Overwatch League matches, you would need to watch 100 maps of play just to earn $5 worth of tokens. However, Blizzard has announced an easy way to earn that many tokens without spending money or very much time.
Everyone who has a valid copy of Overwatch, an account in good standing, and signs up for the Overwatch League email list by April 29 will earn 100 Tokens, which would normally cost $5. If you play on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, you must first link your PlayStation Network or Xbox Live account to your Battle.net account. Then, when you fill out your form, you must use the same email address associated with your Battle.net account. Even if you already are signed up for the Overwatch League email list, confirming your information will still earn you the 100 tokens.
With 100 Overwatch League Tokens, you can purchase one team-specific skin for a hero of your choosing, or get halfway to affording one of the premium, exclusive items, like the new Thunder Doomfist skin or the legendary turntable Lucio emote, each of which cost 200 Overwatch League Tokens.
The promotion ends on April 29, but tokens may take until May 6 to appear in your account. To sign up for the mailing list, head here.
Our lovely senior video producer Alex Olney has had Animal Crossing: New Horizons a little bit longer than the rest of us, and in this time frame has discovered a few extra little secrets about the game. We’re not really talking about spoilers here, more like tips and tricks.
Did you know, for example, that you can hit balloons out of the sky with a net? Or stop wasps from attacking you with a party popper? What if you need to relocate an entire forest? Just eat a turnip! Your villagers can even play musical instruments and sing. To find out more things like this, check out the 12-minute video above.
Team Xbox might be busy preparing for its next-generation of gaming, but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily forgotten about its old pal Nintendo. Its official Twitter account recently shared two custom designs for the latest Switch release, Animal Crossing: New Horizons. One is a shirt and the other is a jumper.
The official DOOM Twitter account has posted some eye-catching artwork in honour of Final Fantasy VII Remake. The accompanying post reads: “Congratulations to Final Fantasy VII Remake on the launch.”
It’s always nice to see different games come together like this on social media, but this particular picture’s a real cut above. It features the Doom Slayer standing before a huge hell tower — and what does he have held over his shoulder? That’s right, it’s the Crucible — the glowing sword of destruction from DOOM Eternal.
Dreams is already an incredible product on PlayStation 4, but through backwards compatibility, bringing your creations to life on PlayStation 5 is going to be even easier. Sure, there’s the high-speed SSD to improve load times and adaptive triggers that will emulate the tension upon a bow and arrow. However, it’s the microphone which could be the biggest game-changer.
Currently, the Media Molecule developed title allows you to record audio through any microphone compatible with PS4. Getting your hands on one of those for a decent price isn’t a tough task whatsoever but through the implementation of the PS5 DualSense controller’s built-in microphone, the Japanese giant has cut out the middle man. If you want to grab a quick recording of your voice, sound effect, or even an instrument, simply hold the pad up to the audio source and you’ll have the sound in your creation in the space of seconds.
The Simpsons is one of the jewels in the Disney Plus crown and fans are being rewarded for their loyalty with the release of a fresh short-film starring their favorite Springfield family. Read on and we’ll explain how to watch The Simpsons: Maggie’s Playdate with Destiny today – stream the new Simpsons movie wherever you are with the help of our guide.
This isn’t the first Simpsons episode to track the antics of Maggie, though. Back in 2012, we got treated to something similar in the form of ‘The Longest Daycare’ short. And before that, fans of the show learnt she was the silent assassin who (nearly) killed Mr. Burns in a famous two-part episode with eerie and hilarious parallels to the O.J Simpson trial.
Apologies if that ruined 1995 for you, but surely that can’t class as a spoiler at this stage?
Whatever the case, it’s safe to say that we’re seriously excited about the release of the new Simpsons Maggie movie onto Disney Plus – which is currently offering a FREE 7-day trial and costs just $6.99/£5.99 a month otherwise. With that in mind, here’s how to watch new Simpsons short Maggie’s Playdate with Destiny online from nearly anywhere in the world.
How to watch the Simpsons online: stream Maggie’s Playdate with Destiny online for free
This is the best bit – Disney Plus now has the new Simpsons Maggie movie available to stream across all of its core services – including the US, UK and Australia.
That means there’s no waiting around for global audiences – which has regrettably been the case with previous Disney Plus exclusives like new Pixar flick Onward and even Frozen 2.
It’s doubly good because when you take out such wait times, Disney Plus has quickly emerged as one of the very best – and best value – TV streaming services on the planet. With a catalogue full of Pixar hits, Marvel epics and the entire Simpsons back catalogue, it’s got pretty much every you need to survive a lockdown and still stay firmly in love with your TV.
Better still, can get a 7-day FREE TRIAL to Disney Plus, meaning you can enjoy the new Simpsons Maggie movie and all of the service’s other content without paying anything! Binge as much as you want and it won’t cost you a penny, provided you cancel in time.
Nvidia is reportedly preparing a Turing-based successor to its Pascal-based GeForce MX300 series of entry-level graphics cards in order to better compete against AMD and Intel.
That’s according to a 3DMark database spotted by hardware leaker @_rogame, which suggests that the MX GPU – which will end up in entry-level notebook designs – will be based on the TU117 architecture, have 2GB GDDR6 memory running at 10Gbps, a base clock of 540MHz and a TDP of 25W.
The tweet, which doesn’t tell us much else about the incoming sequel to the MX350, is accompanied by a screenshot of the cards performance on UL’s 3DMark, in which the “Generic VGA” is paired with a Comet Lake Core i7 10510U CPU.
Earlier rumours via Notebookcheck claim that Nvidia’s incoming GPU, referred to as the “N18S-G5” internally, will arrive to counter Intel’s Xe DG1 iGPU that will be part of the chipmaker’s incoming Tiger Lake-U processors, along with AMD’s 7nm Vega Integrated GPUs.
The same report claims that the so-called N18S-G5, which could arrive as the MX 400 series, will be available in two variants “A” and “B”. It confirms that both will be based on the Turing TU117 architecture and fabricated on the 12nm process node and that each GPU will deliver PCI Gen4 speeds, 64-bit GDDR6 VRAM, and have a 25 W TDP envelope.
The difference between the two will lies in the package size, Notebookcheck claims, with the N18S-G5-B set to come in a 29 x 29 mm package, compared to the N18S-G5-A1’s 23 x 23 mm.
As per the report, the “A” variant can be configured to have GDDR5 VRAM at 3.5GHz or GGDR6 at 6GHz, while the “B” model has only the option of GDDR6 VRAM at 5GHz. While GPU core clocks and CUDA Core counts are still unknown, the report says that performance will be similar to that of the GTX 1650 Max-Q.
The N18S-G5-A variant is expected to enter mass production in May, followed by the N18S-G5-B variant with GDDR6 in the early June. Both GPUs are expected to feature in Intel Tiger Lake-powered laptops that are set to arrive sometime in the second half of 2020.
Code spotted in an early build of iOS 14 suggests that Apple is working on a new feature called Clips, which would let you test out dynamic and interactive content from apps without actually installing them.
As 9to5Mac reports, the idea is that you could watch a video from YouTube, for example, without actually having YouTube installed. Users would be able to try out various features before they commit to downloading the app.
Based on the Clips API, it would kick into action when you scanned a QR code or tapped on a link for an app that wasn’t installed on your iPhone. In addition to YouTube, apps for Yelp, DoorDash, OpenTable and PS4 Second Screen are specifically referenced in the code.
App developers will need to specify in the App Store which parts of their apps are available before installing. There will then be the option to install the full app, if required. A similar sort of tech is available in Android with Slices.
What’s coming in iOS 14
Like everything else that has been spotted in the iOS 14 code ahead of time, Apple may decide to scrap the idea between now and June, when we’re expecting the first official preview of what the software will bring.
Previous leaks have suggested that Apple is thinking of adding extra home screen and wallpaper customizations to iOS 14. We’ve also seen hints of changes coming to the app switcher.
iOS 14 is expected to be compatible with all the iPhones that can currently run iOS 13, which would mean everything since the iPhone 6S from late 2015 and the iPhone SE which launched in 2016. It’s always possible this could change, but we haven’t heard that more phones will be left off the upgrade list.
We traditionally get our first look at new iOS versions at Apple’s annual WWDC event, held at the start of June. This year’s event has been called off in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, though Apple’s announcements are likely to still arrive around the same time.
Look, we get it. You’re probably sick of people posting about Animal Crossing: New Horizons on the internet. What’s the big deal with it, anyway? It’s just a bunch of cutesy characters, running around an island doing menial tasks to pay off an ever increasing debt to a money-hungry raccoon.
And yet for some reason you want it – crave it, even. You want to chat with anthropomorphic villagers; you want to toil the land and enjoy the fruits of your labor. But the mere prospect of buying a Nintendo Switch solely to experience one game just isn’t right.
Well, what if we told you there are some great PC games that can give you those Animal Crossing feels… and they’re all on Steam. Who cares if they aren’t the real deal – these Animal Crossing PC alternatives will make you feel a little less envious of your friend’s island life, at the very least.
1. Graveyard Keeper
No, this isn’t a joke recommendation. Graveyard Keeper is kind of similar to Animal Crossing, albeit the subject matter is a lot less cheery. Grab a shovel (and some bodies) as you manage your own graveyard and do whatever it takes to make a thriving business.
Despite being a game largely about putting people six-feet under, Graveyard Keeper is full of dark humor and will make you appreciate your real world job quite a bit more. Sure, you might have back-to-back meetings and the printer is jammed yet again, but at least you don’t have to grind up organs to sell to the local butcher for a quick buck.
A genuinely amazing game in its own right, Stardew Valley combines the best of Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing to create a compelling and utterly addictive experience. With farming at its heart, enjoy the simple life as you live off the land, grow crops, tend to livestock and craft more efficient equipment.
Head into the bustling town and forge relationships with its citizens – you never know, it may even lead to marriage and kids! There’s so much to do in Stardew Valley that you’ll wonder why you don’t possess these productivity levels outside of the game.
Oh, and with the recent multiplayer update you can now fish, fight, plant and sow your seeds with your closest farmhouse friends online. It just gets better and better.
3. Garden Paws
Instantly adorable, Garden Paws is the equivalent of Sylvanian Family: the video game (which sadly doesn’t exist). You play as a pint-sized animal tasked with building up a prospering community. Run a shop to earn coins, battle through dangerous dungeons, and take on exciting quests as you work your little paws to the bone.
With over 500+ hours of content to enjoy, Garden Paws continues to grow with regular updates and new gameplay modes to try, like online multiplayer where you can play with up to 32 furry friends. Aww.
A new life awaits in the enchanting town of Portia, but before you get too comfy, you’ll have to restore your father’s dilapidated workshop to its former glory. Befriend the townsfolk, farm like harvest is just around the corner, and become a house designer as you collect and craft all sorts of furniture.
To aid you on your adventure, you can level up your character with numerous skills to boost a variety of skills to fit your playstyle. Become more social, or put all your efforts into combat – the choice is yours.
There’s so many tasks to tackle in My Time at Portia, that you’ll only wish you had an infinite amount of time to get everything done.
5. Little Dragons Cafe
Have you ever wanted to work at a cafe and raise a dragon? Of course you have! Little Dragons Cafe will help you realize that strangely specific life-long dream as you train your very own scaly companion from a weak-winged baby into a fire-breathing adult.
You’ll also get to run a quaint olde cafe, preparing delicious dishes, serving customers and managing a team of staff and visitors who think keeping a dragon as a pet is totally normal.
To keep your cafe stocked with supplies, you’ll need to venture out into an expansive world filled with secrets, wildlife, and dangers to overcome as you collect ingredients to cook new recipes at your cafe. What a lovely existence.
Hokko Life mirrors the Animal Crossing formula so closely, that you might be forgiven for thinking it’s nothing more than a cheap imitation. But that damning judgment would be rather unfair, considering the game has yet to be released and does bring a few fresh ideas to the table.
For example, Hokko Life lets you craft your own furniture using materials you find in the world. The level of customization goes far beyond what’s possible in Animal Crossing, too – swirl your own paints, upholster a deck chair, or create catwalk-worthy outfits – you can personalize the game however you like.
With a release date set for 2020, we’ll have to wait and see whether Hokko Life can go toe-to-toe with Nintendo’s charming simulation series.
