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MSI has just unveiled an incredible new deal for buyers of its cases, coolers, and motherboards. It's offering up to $100 in Steam codes when you buy a range of products, with the codes allowing you to buy whatever games you like on the gaming platform. The new MSI offer means that whether you're after one of the best gaming motherboards around, need a new PC case to house your system or need a CPU cooler upgrade, MSI might have just what you need and get you a great saving in the process. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: This $599.99 MSI Nvidia GeForce RTX gaming laptop deal is genuinely outstanding Grab Stalker 2 for free, thanks to MSI OLED gaming monitor sales are booming, and these are the ones to buy View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Paradox recently confirmed that the popular Cities Skylines 2 'Traffic' mod had been updated with a malicious file. This file was not added to the mod by the mod's creator, and the CS2 publisher quickly pushed a new, safe version that removed the suspect file. Now, Paradox provides a new statement, explaining that the file may have targeted the cryptocurrency wallets of any exposed Cities Skylines 2 players. The publisher reiterates that the file should be considered harmful and removed from your PC if it is present. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Popular Cities Skylines 2 traffic mod may contain malicious file, Paradox warns The 17 best Cities Skylines 2 mods It may have taken a year, but the Cities Skylines 2 region pack is finally real View the full article

Longtime fans of the Baldur's Gate franchise will remember the infamous villain, Sarevok, from the original game, and were surprised to see him resurface in Baldur's Gate 3 considering his previous fate. Sarevok's role in Baldur's Gate 3 is significant, yet players may never access some of his most important dialogue without attempting to play as the Dark Urge, one of Baldur's Gate 3's unique Origin characters. Players will have the opportunity to interact with Sarevok during the "Impress the ******* Tribunal" quest, where the Dark Urge will have to either resist or embrace their evil impulses. View the full article

If you were one of the three people who'd hoped to spend your weekend playing Ubisoft's new weird NFT game Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles, first of all, I'm very sorry that you probably ended up playing a bunch of matches against the same person. The good news is that the problem has now reportedly been fixed in semi-awkward fashion. Read more View the full article

Naoki Yoshida (Yoshi-P) is the director and driving force behind Final Fantasy 14—and other projects at Square Enix besides, also directing the series' 16th entry. He's also in Monster Hunter Wilds, sort of. Presumably determined to see their favourite developer hit giant creatures with a giant instrument, fans recreated Yoshi-P in the game's character creator during the game's beta last week, as you can see below:.. Read more.View the full article

A player recently discovered an easy-to-miss Easter egg after taking a closer look at a ******* in Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6. This Easter egg is a direct reference to Treyarch itself, with the development team, or a rogue designer, planting a secret logo on one of the weapons featured in Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6. View the full article

While we're getting a Gears Of War prequel in Gears Of War: E-Day, this does mean that Gears Of War 6 is yet to be a thing. In a recent episode of IGN's Podcast Unlocked, former Gears Of War director and current Diablo 4 lead Rod Fergusson revealed what his plans were for Gears 6 when he left. In short, he was going to take the game to space. Righto. Read more View the full article

Insomniac has detailed the enhancements coming to Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 on PS5 Pro, saying the mid-gen upgrade enables the “quintessential version of the Spider-Man experience.” In a new video, below, developers from Sony-owned Insomniac talk about the PS5 Pro enhancements for Spider-Man 2, including much-improved ray tracing (yes, even in the puddles!), detail, and the ability to play at 60 frames per second but with the visual quality normally reserved for fidelity mode on the base PS5. Senior creative director Bryan Intihar said that Spider-Man 2 running on base PS5 was a “compromise between the creative vision and the technical limitations” Insomniac ran up against when developing the 2023 adventure, which has sold over 11 million copies. It’s a different story on the more powerful $700 PS5 Pro, as you’d expect. “When players play Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 on PlayStation 5 Pro, they are playing the quintessential version of the Spider-Man experience on the PlayStation 5,” Intihar insisted. While Spider-Man 2 may enjoy a jolt in the arm with the release of PS5 Pro on November 7, Insomniac has confirmed it has no plans to release DLC, much to the disappointment of some fans. The announcement came in the same breath that Sony announced a PC version of Spider-Man 2 launches in January — one of the quickest turnarounds from single-player PS5 exclusive to PC from the company so far. IGN’s Spider-Man 2 review returned an 8/10. We said: “Marvel's Spider-Man 2 delivers Insomniac's best tale yet, and despite its open world falling short, is a reliably fun superhero power trip.” So, what’s next? While Insomniac has a Wolverine game in the works, fans are hoping the developer will also release a Marvel’s Spider-Man spinoff similar in scope to the hugely successful Miles Morales standalone, with Venom the potential focus. To find out how Insomniac has set up its next sequel, check out IGN’s Spider-Man 2 ending explained. Wesley is the *** News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld. View the full article

There has been plenty of discourse surrounding the numerous PlayStation remasters over the years, and it came to a head with Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered. Many felt like the 2017 game was already perfect and did not need any enhancements or additions, while others felt that improving the game's visuals to be more in line with the sequel was a positive change. View the full article

Twitch have introduced a new "Politics and Sensitive Social Issues" label for streams that "focus" on topics like "elections, civic integrity, and war or military conflict". As with the streaming giant's existing labels for M-rated material, ******* themes or depictions of gambling, the idea is that viewers can filter out such streams in advance by altering their settings. Advertisers, similarly, can "make better choices about the content they want to advertise next to" - in other words, pull their ads from a whole swathe of material if they don't want to be associated with anything controversial. Twitch's hope is that "the labels will allow advertisers to have more context to inform which types of streams they show their ads alongside, which we expect to increase brands’ confidence in running ads on Twitch, and could bring new advertisers to our service." Read more View the full article

The researchers' recently published study describes a way to re-activate apoptosis in mutated cells, which would amount to forcing ******* to self-destruct through a bioengineered, bonding molecule. Read Entire Article View the full article

Once you're done with Elden Ring, the soulslike genre can feel incredibly daunting. Yes, you can tackle FromSoftware's previous games like ******'s Souls, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne, but there's a whole world out there. In recent years we've had ***** of P, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, Remnant 2, and even Jedi Survivor. There's too much to choose from, and while that's a great problem to have, there's one game I need to recommend above all else. 2023's Lords of the Fallen reboot has turned into a spectacular game, and even if it feels too familiar to Dark Souls at first, that'll change the more you play. Even better, it's just had another free update and is about to be 50% off on Steam. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Lords of the Fallen is getting a sequel, just not on Steam 2023's top soulslike hits Game Pass, drops huge new update 2023's top soulslike turns into a roguelike with huge final update View the full article

Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6 associate director Matt Scronce responded to a fan on social media, teasing that the game is going to be getting a ******* balancing update in the near future. Since it launched in October, Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6 has seen plenty of success, offering players a variety of content, whether it be through the single player campaign, Zombies content, of the massive popular multiplayer modes. View the full article

Dragon Age: The Veilguard has surpassed 89,400 concurrent Steam players over the first weekend of November 2024. It hence significantly improved upon its peak player record from launch day, although early market watcher estimates suggest that Dragon Age: The Veilguard is still far from breaking even. View the full article

Dragon Age: The Veilguard isn’t even a week old, but the mods are coming in thick and fast. In these early days, the most popular on Nexus Mods revolve around performance improvements on PC and various character presets, and there’s even one that strips the purple from the game to make it look more like a dark fantasy RPG. Let’s start with the latter. Vktrfly’s Dark Fantasy Look-Up Table (LUT) mod is a reshade that aims to remove the purple/magenta elements from the game and give it “a darker, more atmospheric look.” Ever since BioWare unveiled The Veilguard gameplay, fans have debated its art style, with some lamenting the developer’s decision to go for a heavily stylized, almost cartoony look compared to the more gritty, realistic prior games in the series. The Veilguard, with its smooth, purple-hued visuals, is certainly at the opposite end of the Dragon Age art style spectrum, with 2009’s Origins heavy on mud and blood-drenched medieval fantasy, and Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition occupying a place somewhere in-between. But the most popular mod so far is ChemBoy1’s Anti-Stutter - Performance Enhancer - High CPU and Disk Priority - DATV mod, which enables high CPU and disk priority for the Dragon Age: The Veilguard executable. This can help with performance on weaker CPUs and slower disks, and helps reduce stuttering on all CPU and disks, ChemBoy1 said. Also high on the most downloaded mods list is Nyctaginae’s preset and sliders for their Rook (Veilguard’s customizable main character), Ayse de Riva, a female mage and elf Antivan Crow (“Based on my OC of 15+ years, hope you like her!”). Expect more elaborate mods to release as modders get to grips with The Veilguard. We’ve seen the likes of Larian and CD Projekt release official mod tools for Baldur’s Gate 3 and The Witcher 3 respectively, which have unlocked an ********** in each game’s modding scene. Perhaps at some point down the line, BioWare will do the same for Dragon Age: The Veilguard. And that might be important in keeping the game alive, given BioWare has indicated it has no plans to release DLC for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, with the developer now turning its attention to Mass Effect 5. In the meantime, fans are busy digging into BioWare's latest RPG after Dragon Age's release on Thursday, propelling it to new highs for an EA game on Steam. They have plenty to find even without DLC — estimates on IGN sister site HowLongToBeat suggest that it can take upwards of 88 hours to complete the main story while doing sidequests. For more, check out our guide to the major choices in Dragon Age: The Veilguard as well as our complete romance guide. Wesley is the *** News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld. View the full article

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is now just $14.97 on PS5 at Amazon, a significant $35 off its list price. Despite some disappointment from Ubisoft, the game has garnered praise for its classic feel and modern polish, with many critics calling it one of the better releases this year. If you’re looking to play on the Nintendo Switch, Walmart has it marked down to $17.97 as well, providing options for fans on multiple platforms. We gave Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown an 8/10, with reviewer Phil Hornshaw stating: "Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown captures not only what made games such as The Sands of Time so good, but it irons out a lot of the little issues that plagued the 3D games in this series by opting for a 2D perspective – and owning it. "It also works extremely well as a traditional Metroidvania, sticking with tried-and-true elements of the genre but executing on them with precision. The story can feel a bit jumbled at times, but it's the fast and fun combat system, the tight and satisfying controls, and the stylish look and feel that elevate Sargon’s journey and make The Lost Crown a worthy successor to the best of the Prince of Persia legacy." As November kicks off, ****** Friday looms, marking the year's best chance of picking up everything gaming-related at a discount. From standout releases of the past decade to recent Game of the Year contenders, almost nothing is off the table during this sales season. We're on the cusp of seeing some major deals, so we've also predicted every PS5 game we're expecting to be on ***** soon. Prince of Persia’s reduced price comes as Ubisoft navigates a challenging year. Disappointing returns from Call of Duty competitor XDefiant and Star Wars Outlaws sparked a share price collapse and a management inquest, as well as the delay of *********’s Creed Shadows into 2025. As for Prince of Persia, the hotly anticipated but heavily delayed Prince of Persia Sands of Time Remake is due out at some point in 2026. In November last year, Ubisoft said the Ubisoft Montreal project had passed an “important” internal milestone and that development was “progressing.” When Is ****** Friday 2024? The actual date of ****** Friday in 2024 falls on November 29 this year, but the deals season will begin a lot sooner than that. Leading up to the big event, retailers will begin to open deals online. This usually starts in the last week of October, just before Halloween. Each week leading up to the event will slowly roll out more deals, which ultimately leads to ****** Friday. Retailers will not reveal their biggest ****** Friday deals until the big day, but most general deals will be available well in advance. Walmart, for example, has announced its official ***** for November 11 this year. Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Lords of the Fallen has launched update 1.6, which adds a “more refined” tutorial and further performance improvements and gameplay balancing. Lords of the Fallen is a dark fantasy RPG released in 2023 as a sequel/reboot of the 2014 original. Taking inspiration from the Dark Souls games, it tells the story of fabled Dark Crusaders who must embark on an epic quest to overthrow Adyr, the ****** ****. In our 8/10 Lords of the Fallen review, IGN said: "Lords of the Fallen is an awesome Soulslike with a fantastic dual-realities premise, even when performance shortcomings and wimpy bosses ****** the party." Developer Hexworks also added a “more exploration-friendly” Umbral realm with update 1.6, as well as enhancements to take advantage of the PS5 Pro, which comes out November 7. Patch notes are below. Hexworks said Lords of the Fallen on PS5 Pro has a 40% increase in pixel density, with an enhanced Performance Mode running at 4K60 based on 1440p, and Quality Mode running at a native 4K30. Here’s the official blurb: With version 1.6, new Lords of the Fallen players are more empowered on their journey across Mournstead, with a series of changes during the early part of the game. These include a more gradual onboarding into the Umbral Lamp’s unique abilities, and improved navigation in the tutorial area. As for the wider community, a highly-sought player request has been the ability to more thoroughly explore Umbral – the game’s secondary, darker realm that runs alongside its core world. While retaining its dark allure and tension, the changes – which include subtler soundscapes, an adjusted ****** spawn curve for improved pacing, and reduced vignette effect - all combine to better support exploration of the Umbral. Rounding off the update is a raft of additional performance updates and further difficulty adjustments, including mob redistribution, adjusted ranged ****** perception, and improved platforming. Full patch notes are available to read. Lords of the Fallen Update v.1.6.12 patch notes: Gameplay Improvements We’ve implemented further gameplay adjustments informed by community feedback and extensive playtesting. It’s rewarding to see our Steam ‘Recent Review’ score rising, reflecting the positive impact of these ongoing improvements, and we’re committed to continuing this journey with your valuable input. Highlights include: Mob Density: Based on your feedback, we’ve fine-tuned certain mob encounters to create a smoother, more immersive combat experience by isolating instances to prevent mobs from stacking up. Returning players may find it worthwhile to start anew, as we’ve added a few fresh surprises along the way! (Original ****** distribution and density can still be accessed via NG+ modifiers.)Ranged Enemies: We’ve adjusted the perception of certain ranged units to correct instances that felt unfair or unrealistic.Jumping: Platforming in Pilgrim's Perch has been refined with improved indicators, making jumps clearer and navigation smoother.PvP Scaling: To elevate skill-based play in PvP, we’ve rebalanced scaling mechanics, particularly where magic-infused weapons and spells are concerned. These tweaks apply exclusively to PvP, so PvE players can continue with their current builds unaffected.******* Displacement: Some ******* attacks have received slight adjustments to reduce displacement, providing a greater sense of control while preserving effectiveness and supporting your playstyle. Enhanced Tutorialisation, Onboarding, and Start-Up Experience We’ve taken steps to further enrich the onboarding experience for new players in Lords of the Fallen, building on feedback from our veteran Lampbearers. We want every new player to feel empowered on their journey, and we understand that some early tutorials may have presented a steep learning curve. Here’s what’s new: Improved Lighting in the Defiled Sepulchre: Enhanced lighting and visual adjustments make this initial tutorial area clearer and easier to navigate.Gradual Umbral Tutorialization: Core abilities like ‘soulflay’ and ‘syphoning’ now have dedicated tutorial spaces later in Redcopse, allowing new players to engage with each feature more gradually.Simplified First Jump Tutorial: We’ve refined the jump tutorial to be more accessible (hands up in the comments if you cleared it on the first attempt!).Lightreaper Boss Adjustment in NG0: To clarify the intentional design of this encounter, we’ve removed the Lightreaper boss ****** from the tutorial area for NG0 players. Rest assured: the Lightreaper still lurks within Mournstead and will make a return as a surprise in NG+. A More Immersive Umbral Realm for Explorers Umbral, the parallel realm intertwined with the living world of Axiom, is accessible at any point in the game, offering an expansive world of alternate pathways, hidden treasures, and secrets. We know how much you enjoy exploring Mournstead, and many of you have asked for a more exploration-friendly Umbral realm. Embracing this idea, we’ve made some tweaks to enhance its immersive vibe while preserving its mysterious, challenging nature. While Umbral ******** intentionally hostile, we’ve made adjustments to its sounds, visuals, and ****** spawn curve. Now, the threads (Umbral natives) are slower to detect your presence, allowing you some precious time to explore before the realm’s haunting intensifies. Eventually, the Scarlet Shadow will appear, forcing you to decide: escape or engage in an epic showdown. These changes make Umbral better suited for exploration while preserving its eerie intensity and challenging atmosphere: Dynamic Ambient Sound: Initial entry into Umbral is now accompanied by subtler soundscapes, building in intensity as you remain longer, reaching a crescendo before you must find an exit, or risk facing the Crimson Reaper.Adjusted ****** Spawn Curve: ****** appearances are now better paced to create a smoother, gradual build-up of tension.Increased Delay for Scarlet Shadow: You’ll now have more time to explore before the Scarlet Shadow emerges, enhancing the suspense.Reduced Vignette Effect: Based on player feedback, the vignette effect has been softened to improve visibility while exploring Umbral.Clearer Umbral Eggs: We’ve added a special VFX to eggs set to spawn Umbral natives, as we noticed some players had difficulty distinguishing between active and inactive ones. These updates create a richer exploration experience within Umbral, preserving its dark allure and escalating tension for daring adventurers. Performance Improvements We’ve implemented additional performance enhancements across several of the game’s more graphically demanding areas, optimising the experience for players with lower-spec computers. New Challengers Incoming! With Lords of the Fallen now fully harnessing the power of the PS5 Pro, prepare for a fresh wave of cross-players venturing into Mournstead! Be sure to welcome them - whether with a warm salute in co-op or the cold edge of your blade in PvP. Alongside ongoing support for Lords of the Fallen, Hexworks is working on a sequel due for release at some point in 2026. Publisher CI Games has said Lords of the Fallen 2 (for lack of an official name) will have a "more commercial" art style and narrative, suggesting it wants the game to have more mainstream appeal. CI Games also promised gameplay improvements, more game mode options, and full "shared-progression" co-op alongside the "core" single-player campaign, all developed with "elevated production values" fueled by Unreal Engine 5. The publisher confirmed it had received a "major investment" from Epic Games for PC exclusivity on the Epic Games Store, which means Lords of the Fallen 2 will not initially launch on Steam. Wesley is the *** News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld. View the full article

If you’re feeling down, the “Make very happy” clue on today’s NYT Mini Crossword is sure to help lift your spirits. But what exactly is the word that best represents this clue? There are lots of unique ways to refer to happiness, so this is an easy clue to get stuck on. If you’re having trouble with this one, here are some hints and the solution for the “Make very happy” clue on the Nov. 4 NYT Mini Crossword puzzle. View the full article

Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6 is listening to the community by dropping a nerf hammer on what is widely considered to be the game's most overpowered perk. It didn't take long for players to figure out that the best three-perk bonus is undoubtedly Recon which grants respawning users the ability to briefly see enemies through walls, giving them a major advantage over opponents. While it could be argued that it's only really helpful for those who continuously lose ***** fights, it still feels like an unfair boost. View the full article

Surging Sparks looks like one of Pokémon Trading Card Game’s best sets this year after a packed year of banger expansion packs, with cards like Pikachu ex shaking up the meta. While you can find a handful of amazing cards, that doesn’t exactly mean everyone is looking to play the game. For some who open a random pack or two, it’s more about whether you can turn a handsome profit on one of the more expensive cards you can find. View the full article

You'll spend a good chunk of time at The Lighthouse in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. This hub area once belonging to Solas is situated within the Fade, and each companion you recruit will set up shop in one of its many wings. View the full article

Fanatical have another pretty good deal live with the Build your own Supreme Collection (Winter 2024) Bundle. Good compatibility for Linux / Steam Deck too. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

One of the trickier clues you need to solve on today’s NYT Mini Crossword is “Moving day sticker.” This is an easy hint to get stumped by, but it runs through the middle of the puzzle which means it’s an important one to solve. Here are some hints and the official answer for the “Moving day sticker” clue on the Nov. 4 NYT Mini Crossword puzzle. View the full article

A new ***** about 5-star Herta in Honkai: Star Rail suggests the character may be just as strong as Acheron, one of the games best DPS units. 5-star Herta is a long-rumored character for HoYoverses turn-based RPG. The Herta that players meet in Herta Space Station is actually a doll one of many that the Genius Society member has created to overlook the maintenance of her Space Station. As such, players have not yet met Hertas true form in Honkai: Star Rail. She has, however, been teased through illustrations in the game, such as those in the Simulated Universe. View the full article

Image: Nintendo For a character that’s been around so long, Mario is in something of a golden *******. Since last year his mustache has been spotted in theaters, theme parks, and the best (and weirdest) side-scrolling Super Mario game in a long time. But he’s had a particularly strong run in role-playing games on the Switch, with recent remakes of both Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and the original Super Mario RPG. Now we have Mario & Luigi: Brothership which keeps the streak alive with a blend of charm, humor, and clever gameplay. Brothership, once again, starts with the brothers getting whisked away to a fantasy realm in need of help. This time it’s the oceanic world of Concordia, which has been broken apart into a series of islands. The bros end... Continue reading… View the full article