It’s a little late to the party at this point, but Sony has officially announced its two $400 Black Friday PlayStation 4 bundles, each of which comes with two big games.
First is the Grand Theft Auto V PS4 Black Friday Bundle, which includes a 500GB PS4 and a copy of Grand Theft Auto V, as well as a digital download voucher for The Last of Us Remastered. With the exception of The Last of Us voucher, it looks a lot like the GTA V bundle the company already announced in Japan.
Sony may have only made it official last night on the PlayStation Blog, but we already knew via promotional materials that retailers like Target and Dell would offer bundles that include the same items for the same price for their upcoming Black Friday deals.
The PS4 may have beaten the Xbox One in October, but since Microsoft cut the Xbox One price by $50 earlier this month, the tide has turned. Microsoft announced this week that the Xbox One has been outselling the PS4 for two straight weeks now in the United States. The company cited excitement over the $50 price cut and the array of Xbox One bundles as fueling the turnaround. Microsoft also announced this week that it’s now shipped 10 million Xbox Ones, behind PS4’s 13.5 million. But with the busy holiday shopping season still in front of us, can the Xbox One finally catch up to and maybe overtake the PS4?
More talk about resolution and frame rate this week. 2015’s Batman: Arkham Knight is aiming for graphical parity across all platforms, developer Rocksteady Studios announced this week. Final specifications aren’t locked down yet–the game doesn’t launch until June 2015, after all–so it’s too early to say if it will be 1080p/30fps or some other variation.
The Other Stuff (Stories We Like, But Didn’t Cover With a Standalone Post):
Fast and Furious fan? This one’s for you. Mobile game developer Kabam on Monday released its latest licensed game, Fast & Furious 6: The Game, for Windows Phones and tablets running 8.0 or 8.1 operating systems. The game had already been released on iOS and Android devices (with 20 million downloads in its first month), but this marks Kabam’s first game ever for Windows devices. Download the free game here.
Ahead of Dragon Age: Inquisition‘s release next Tuesday, free digital card game Dragon Age The Last Court was released this week. Described as a story-driven game, the title will fill in the gap between Dragon Age 2 and Dragon Age: Inquisition. Play it now right here via Origin.
Although Super Smash Bros. for Wii U won’t be released until November 21, one fan has created a video showing off all 51 characters’ Final Smashes. It’s a fascinating thing to watch, even if you’re a purist who doesn’t play with items or Final Smashes. Watch video below.
Fans of Brutal Legend developer Double Fine can now play the studio’s next game, as Massive Chalice is now available through Steam Early Access. There’s even a 25 percent launch week discount offer, which lets you buy the game for $22.50 instead of $30. You’re playing an in-development version of the game, though Double Fine says it’s “pretty well complete” and already playable from start to finish. Work still to be done ahead of its 2015 release comes down to balancing, tuning, and polish, Double Fine said. Download the game on Steam today here.
PC MMO WildStar developer Carbine Studios on Wednesday released the game’s biggest patch ever. Called Mystery of the Genesis Prime, the update adds new zones, areas to discover, quests, treasure, and more lore. It also fixes a range of bugs. You can read more about it at WildStar’s website.
Sony this week published a list of panels that will take place at its two-day PlayStation Experience event in Las Vegas next month. Developers behind games like Far Cry 4, God of War, Little Big Planet, The Order: 1886, Diablo III, and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End will also give presentations at the event. There will also be a live, in-person Ask Me Anything-like session with various PlayStation executives, including Shuhei Yoshida, Adam Boyes, and Scott Rohde. Head to the PlayStation Blog to see a full rundown of what to expect from PlayStation Experience.
Blizzard Entertainment scored a legal victory this week, as a court ruled against a Chinese Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft clone that was trying to (illegally) piggyback on the overwhelming success of Blizzard’s free-to-play digital card game. Not only is the Hearthstone clone getting shut down, but its creator must pay Blizzard and its partners $1.6 million for copyright violations.
Tickets for next year’s PAX East in Boston, Mass. went on sale Wednesday. Three-day passes sold out almost instantly, though you can still buy one-day passes for Friday and Sunday (one-day Saturday tickets are sold out) for $45 each. PAX East comes to Beantown March 6-8, 2015. Buy your tickets here.
In its next step toward world domination, mobile game developer King this week announced a follow-up to the incredibly popular Candy Crush Saga. The new game is called Candy Crush Soda Saga, and yes, it’s another match-three game. This time, though, the hook is that your goal is to make matches to pop soda bottles, per a report from Touch Arcade. You can download it today for free on iTunes and Google Play.
After nearly 1 million downloads across Xbox One and PS4, intriguing downloadable game Chariot has arrived on PC through Steam. The couch co-op game that’s drawn the praise of Microsoft’s top gaming executive features a princess and her fiance adventuring through dangerous worlds to find a final resting place for the King. The game is also coming to Wii U. You can buy Chariot today on Steam for $15.
A game based on the over-the-top and out-there animated show Adventure Time is coming to PlayStation TV next week, publisher Little Orbit announced on Wednesday. The game, Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom, will be available on November 18, developed by WayForward in association with Cartoon Network Enterprises. It’s a top-down action adventure game with puzzle-solving elements.
D.I.C.E. Summit organizers this week announced a slew of new speakers for this year’s show, which comes to Las Vegas in early February 2015. One of the most interesting presentations will no doubt be the event where Oddworld creator and industry veteran Lorne Lanning interviews PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida about all-things PlayStation and the future of the brand. Other speakers include Call of Duty developer Treyarch Studios boss Mark Lamia, Super Time Force developer Capybara Games co-founder Nathan Vella, Star Citizen creator Chris Roberts, and UC Santa Cruz program director Brenda Romero, who is married to gaming legend John Romero.
That Dragon, Cancer, an indie game about a family’s struggle with their young son’s cancer, has turned to Kickstarter to complete its funding. Developers are looking for $85,000; and as of this writing, they are more than halfway there. The subject of the game, 5-year-old Joel Green, passed away earlier this year. That Dragon, Cancer is a tribute to him. “A video game developer’s love letter to his son; an adventure game to inspire us to love each other; a voice for those fighting cancer.”
Next week will be absolutely crazy for new video game releases, and, as you might expect, retailer GameStop is gearing up for it in a big way. The retailer announced this week that 4,000 of its US stores will hold midnight launch events on the evening of November 17 to mark the arrival of six huge games that go on sale at midnight. These include the Xbox One and PS4 versions of GTA V, Far Cry 4, Little Big Planet 3, Dragon Age: Inquisition, WWE 2K15 (Xbox One and PS4), and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Xbox 360 and PS3). Interestingly, GameStop will start selling all games at 12 Midnight Eastern–regardless of where you live.
We learned a lot more about the Call of Duty Endowment, Activision’s initiative to help place military veterans in jobs, this week thanks to a great story about it. Polygon interviewed the folks behind it, and found that the group has tripled the number of veteran job placements since the effort launched in 2009. CODE helped 19,000 military veterans in 2013, and 5,600 found jobs. And not just any jobs. The positions paid an average salary of $46,000, which is $1,000 better than the national average.
Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com
Over the course of three weeks, you’ll get ten figurines:
Donkey Kong
Mario
Kirby
Pikachu
Princess Peach
Yoshi
Fox
Samus
Luigi
Zelda
Of course, it wouldn’t be Loot Crate without secrets, and the company promises “several other exclusive and super rare items, including a t-shirt.”
Two payment options are available. Either $50/week plus $5 shipping and handling, which comes to $165 total. Or you can opt for a $10 discount by paying $140 plus $15 shipping and handling up front. Note that Amiibo figures will retail for $13, so you’re not getting a discount; you just need to weigh the potential value of the exclusive items you’ll get.
The first set of characters from Loot Crate will ship on November 20 and includes Mario, Kirby, DK, and Pikachu. New Amiibo characters will be rolling out in waves over the coming months, but Loot Crate has not yet announced whether they’ll continue the service past the initial offering of 10 characters.
Want to be a Giant Bomb premium member, but don’t want to pay full price? GameSpot’s sister site is getting in on the November deals train by offering a 30% discount on its yearly membership.
For a limited time, you can get a year-long membership for just $35, discounted from the regular $50 price. But what do you get for those $35? Access to exclusive members-only video content, premium podcasts, an ad-free experience, and entry to other subscriber-only events. And if you’re already a subscriber, you can even use the discount to extend your current membership.
While you likely come to GameSpot for up-to-the-minute gaming news and reviews and in-depth analysis of industry trends, GiantBomb is the place to find a fun and irreverent take on video game culture. You can watch extended gameplay videos, listen to the world’s most popular gaming podcast, and hang out with some of the industry’s leading personalities.
And for even more great deals on your favorite gaming content this month, check out our news tab for continuing deals coverage and a full Black Friday rundown coming soon.
You can also save up to $44 on a PS4 that comes with camera, and choose between a regular PS4 or the white Destiny bundle, one additional game, and your choice of controller: white, black, or blue.
Toys R Us is holding a “buy 1, get 1 40 percent off” sale on a bunch of Xbox One and Xbox 360 games including Metro Redux, Call of Duty: Ghosts, The Evil Within, and others. The offer is in stores only until November 15. You can find the rest of the games that are part the deal here.
PC
Humble Bundle has revealed its Humble Jumbo Bundle 3, which includes GRID 2, Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure, and more. More games will be added to the bundle soon, and if you pay $12 or more, you’ll also get Saints Row IV.
And Humble’s Weekly bundle is all about Worms developer Team 17. If you pay $15 or more you’ll get Flockers, in addition to Worms Armageddon, the original Worms, and other games in the series.
GOG.com kicked off its Fall sale today, with over 700 games discounted on its online store. You’ll see two daily bundles and flash deals every 40 minutes for the Fall sale. Returning GOG.com customers will also be able to pick up free copies of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.
Ubsisoft is working “furiously” to fix the various bugs and other issues that have affected all versions of Assassin’s Creed Unity since its release on Tuesday, the developer writes in its forums.
“Our team is furiously working to resolve bugs and performance issues for Assassin’s Creed Unity on all platforms,” a Ubisoft community manager wrote. The developer also clarified that issues with the PC version of Unity are not AMD-specific, as was previously suspected.
This is not right
“We apologize for any confusion and want to be clear that we are working with all of our hardware partners to address known issues that exist across various PC configurations,” the Ubisoft manager said. “We care deeply about a smooth and enjoyable Assassin’s Creed experience and we will continue to update customers as these issues are fixed.”
The Assassin’s Creed Unity bugs were so significant that Ubisoft even launched a live updates blog where it provides up-to-the-minute reports about the status of the game.
Earlier today, Ubisoft released patches for the PC and PlayStation 4 versions of Assassin’s Creed Unity, fixing things such as main character Arno falling through the ground and game crashes. Ubisoft notes, however, that players may still experience framerate issues and other performance problems.
You can see a full, platform-by-platform breakdown of Assassin’s Creed Unity known issues and, where available, temporary workarounds, here on Ubisoft’s forums.
Assassin’s Creed Unity’s troubled launch this week has prompted a rethink on Ubisoft’s behalf concerning how it works with game critics and the gaming community at large.
Final Stand, the appropriately titled final expansion for 2013’s Battlefield 4, will be released on November 18, Electronic Arts announced today on its blog.
The Final Stand DLC features four arctic-themed maps and new, futuristic weapons. Battlefield 4 Premium members will get the content first, before it’s released publicly on December 2.
Final Stand delivers four maps (Operation Whiteout, Hammerhead, Hangar 21, and Giants of Karelia), all of which take place in wintry environments. Another focus of Final Stand is its near-future weapons and gadgets such as a DS-3 DECOY gun attachment that emits false blips on enemies’ mini-maps and the XD-1 Accipiter, a remote-controlled, LMG-equipped drone.
For more on Final Stand, check out the image gallery below. GameSpot recently caught up with DICE LA–the team behind Final Stand–for an in-depth interview about the state of Battlefield 4.
Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com
How to Survive: Storm Warning is now on the Xbox One and PS4! Learn to survive on a zombie infested archipelago, while trying to satisfy your basic needs of food, water and shelter in the face of natural and unnatural threats.
Want to win a free copy of this game for either the Xbox One or PlayStation 4? Simple my friend, all you have to do is fill in the following information for your chance to win. There are no region restrictions on this contest which means any registered GameSpot member 18 or older has a chance to win!
What did we think of How to Survive? The game received a 7 and was praised for being truly greater than the sum of its parts. Featuring exhilarating moments created solely by the interaction of the mechanics and fun challenge modes that put your survival skills to the test.
Everyone knows that things got bad in the Fallout universe when the bombs dropped. But even before that, it’s been said that something… wrong was stirring. It all started with this book.
