Best Buy Canada’s new list of Top Deals for the week of October 28th to October 31st is live now with offers on LG’s gaming monitors, Microsoft’s Surface devices, Google’s smart home tech and more.
For Best Buy’s early Black Friday deals, click here. For all Top Deals for the week, click here.
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Telus Corporation and Telus International are acquiring WillowTree for $1.2 billion US (about $1.6 billion CAD).
The U.S.-based company focuses on user-end experiences, including mobile apps and web interfaces.
“The acquisition of WillowTree brings key tech talent and diversity to Telus International’s portfolio of next-generation solutions, and further augments its digital consulting and innovative client-centric software development capabilities,” Darren Entwistle, president and CEO of Telus, said.
Insignia Capital Group, a majority stakeholder for WillowTree, will sell its shares as part of the transaction, which will close in January 2023.
WillowTree has offices in 13 countries, including Canada, Portugal, Spain, and Romania.
The acquisition is subjected to regulatory approval.
A second attempt to negotiate the Rogers-Shaw merger with the Competition Bureau has failed.
“We are disappointed with this outcome and believe that litigation is both unnecessary and harmful to competition,” a joint statement from Rogers, Shaw, and Quebecor states.
The failed negotiations mean the companies are heading towards a hearing with the Competition Tribunal early next month.
“The Bureau’s unwillingness to meaningfully engage unduly delays lower wireless prices for Canadian consumers,” the statement says.
The Competition Bureau filed to block the merger in May, stating Rogers’ $26 billion takeover of Shaw would lead to higher costs for Canadians. In an attempt to address the concerns, the companies said they will sell Shaw’s wireless asset, Freedom Mobile, to Quebecor’s subsidiary Videotron. But the promised sale hasn’t led to resolutions.
Earlier this week, Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne, laid out two conditions for Videotron’s acquisition of Freedom: that Quebecor keep the acquired wireless licenses for 10 years and that wireless bills drop by 20 percent, keeping in line with lower phone bills seen in Quebec.
In their statement, Rogers, Shaw, and Quebecor reaffirm their commitment to both the Rogers-Shaw merger and the Freedom-Videotron deal.
“Once completed, our proposed series of transactions will positively transform the Canadian telecommunications industry in both the wireline and wireless segments,” the statement reads. “Together, these transactions will deliver world-leading, affordable telecommunications that Canadian consumers need and deserve for today and into the future.”
China-based social media platform TikTok isn’t content to just stick to short-form video. According to a new report from the Financial Times, TikTok has plans to announce an “enormous” push into the gaming space.
Back in 2019, TikTok launched games in China and then in 2021, released a few titles to the rest of the world. Then earlier this year, reports emerged that TikTok expanded its partnership with Zynga to release more HTML-5 titles that it tested in Vietnam.
According to the Financial Times, users will soon be able to access games through a button on its home page. This section of the app will be the home for all gaming content, including the ability to “pay for additional content,” says the publication.
TikTok is expected to make an announcement regarding its renewed gaming efforts on November 2nd called ‘TikTok Made Me Play It.’ Companies like Electronic Arts, 2K, VNG Corporation, NetEase Games and Homa will reportedly make announcements. It’s unclear what mobile games TikTok will release.
TikTok sent the following statement to Financial Times regarding the report:
“We’re always looking at ways to enrich our platform and regularly test new ideas that we think can bring value to our community.”
If these rumours surrounding TikTok’s gaming ambitions are accurate, they sound very reminiscent of Netflix’s recent gaming push. The video streaming giant recently confirmed that it’s developing 55 new games and that it’s considering launching a game streaming service.
Netflix currently offers titles like Moonlighter, Into the Breach, Spiritfarer and more as part of its subscription.
The days are getting shorter, the leaves are changing colour, and Halloween is just around the corner. It’s the perfect time to introduce more scares into your gaming catalogue to help usher in the spooky season.
I have put myself through some truly harrowing virtual experiences to bring you my favourite horror video game picks for the Fall. From brand-new titles to classics, let’s explore some hair-raising experiences from family-friendly Hallows’ Eve titles to more mature games.
Family-friendly Halloween Gaming Recommendations
Let’s ease into the video game terror fest by starting with a couple of kid-friendly games that won’t leave you screaming in fear. My 8-year-old loves playing these with me — they’re fun, slightly spooky and relatively harmless when it comes to scares. If you’re looking to turn your Halloween gaming experience into a family affair, or just want to slowly wade into bone-chilling games, check out these titles.
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed
Image credit: IllFonic
The recent release of Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed did not disappoint. It’s not without its flaws, but it’s a perfect game for Halloween and uses a lot of the movie series’ source material in creative ways. The characters are fun and quirky, with tons of great voice-acting talent to liven up the experience.
In the first few moments of the title, Canada’s own Dan Aykroyd reprises his role as Ray Stantz. If you are a fan of Ghostbusters, this game offers waves of fun nostalgia. You create your own Ghostbuster trap ghosts or play as one in this isometric multiplayer experience. Teaming up online and bagging or becoming a ghost lets you upgrade your character’s gear and abilities.
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is available on PC, PlayStation and Xbox. The game costs $51.99.
Luigi’s Mansion 3
Luigi’s Mansion 3 is a slightly older title, but it’s still an absolute classic. In the game, Luigi ends up entering a haunted hotel and trying to find his missing brother Mario. The graphics are cartoony and the controls aren’t too demanding, making it suitable for younger players. At the same time, the title offers some great scares along with unique gameplay mechanics. Players use Luigi’s vacuum cleaner (the Poltergust 3000) to suck up ghosts to capture them and progress.
If you’re looking for something truly terrifying, then these mature horror titles should do the trick. They range from psychological thrillers and classic survival horror games to more abstract experiences that will make your skin crawl. Brace yourself, from gore to jump scapes, this list isn’t for the faint of heart:
The Last of Us Part I
Image credit: PlayStation
Originally released in 2013, this masterful survival horror experience has recently been remastered for the PlayStation 5. If you’re looking forward to the upcoming HBO series based on the game, this is an excellent jumping-off point. The plot centres around Joel and his young companion, Ellie, as they navigate through post-apocalyptic America. They face off against hordes of infected zombie-like baddies that have been infected with the Cordyceps fungus. Not only will you have to navigate through claustrophobic environments, but you’ll also need to engage in resourceful planning and combat skills to survive.
The Last of Us Part 1 is available for PlayStation 5. The game costs $89.99.
The Quarry
Image credit: 2K
If you are a fan of summer slasher films, then The Quarry is worth checking out. The game follows a group of teenage camp counsellors trapped in the woods as they fight to survive the night. As each counsellor is picked off by a mysterious creature, you’ll need to stay on your toes and use your wits to solve puzzles and find clues to survive the wilderness. Your choices will affect the outcome of the story and who lives to see the sunrise. Developer Supermassive recently added a creative take on couch co-op and online multiplayer mode, so you can share the scares with your friends.
The Quarry is available on PC, Xbox and PlayStation. The game costs $89.99.
Resident Evil Village: Gold Edition
If you’re a Resident Evil fan, Capcom has a treat dropping right before Halloween on October 28th with Resident Evil Village Gold Edition. This latest edition will include some key features that build on the original game with the “Winters Expansion.” This content offers an entirely new chapter that takes place 16 years after the events of Resident Evil Village, a new third-person mode and new stages and playable characters like Lady Dimitrescu for The Mercenaries mode.
Resident Evil Village Gold Edition is available on PC, Xbox and PlayStation. The game costs $59.99.
Scorn
Image credit: Ebb Software
If you’re looking for a truly unique horror experience, then Scorn is an excellent option. Created by the Hungarian studio Ebb Software, this game offers a truly creepy atmosphere and a surreal storyline. Players must navigate through detailed organic environments that look like something out of an H.R. Giger painting as they search for clues about their mysterious surroundings and origins. The creatures in this game are particularly disturbing, making it perfect for those who want some nightmare fuel on Halloween night.
Scorn is available on PC, Xbox and PlayStation. The game costs $51.99 and is part of Xbox Game Pass.
Gotham Knights
Image credit: Warner Bros.
Red Hood’s gun-focused combat is delightfully brutal. There’s just something for me that makes the Batman universe synonymous with Halloween. Its dark, foreboding setting of Gotham City, combined with villains like Clayface, Man-Bat, and Scarecrow that are ripped straight from my nightmares, really set the stage for some creepy showdowns. Gotham Knights is a new action game releasing right before Halloween.
In Gotham, players take on the role of either Nightwing, Batgirl, Robin, or Red Hood and fight criminals and corruption in the city. Crime is on the rise in the city after tragedy strikes and Batman is no more, so it’s up to the new group of vigilantes to step up and keep the city safe during Batman’s absence.
Gotham Knights is available on PC, Xbox and PlayStation. The game costs $89.99.
Keep the scares coming
Outside of Halloween, there are some terrifying-looking games launching later this year, and in January. The Callisto Protocol, a space-based survival horror game directed by Glen Schofield, is currently slated for early December. Schofield co-created the Dead Space franchise, so you know this game is going to be scary and very gory. The initial teaser trailer and early previews have many gaming horror fans excited, myself included.
On the subject of Dead Space, a remake is also on the way for the end of January. Both a new and a seasoned generation of gamers will get to experience the terrifying journey of Isaac Clarke. Dead Space was originally released in 2008, and follows an engineer as he explores a deserted mining ship infested by creepy aliens known as Necromorphs. The atmosphere is unsettling, the enemies are gruesome and there’s plenty of gore to keep even the most hardened horror fan entertained. If you love scares and gore, I recommend keeping an eye on these two titles — they both look very promising.
Whether you’re looking for a truly terrifying survival horror experience or just want to get into the Halloween spirit with some creepy games, there’s plenty of options to choose from this fall and winter. So keep the scares coming, and Happy Halloween!
As is the case every month, several shows and movies are leaving Netflix Canada, Crave and Prime in November.
It’s worth noting that the streaming services may only be removing certain shows and movies for a specific amount of time.
Highlights this month include White Chicks, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions leaving Netflix, Knocked Up and Milk being removed from Crave, and Tomb Raider ditching Prime Video.
Apple generated $90.1 billion USD (about $122.2 billion CAD) in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2022, a record for the September quarter.
This marks a nine percent year-over-year increase, and helped bring Apple’s total 2022 fiscal year revenue to $394.3 billion USD (about $534.8 billion CAD) — itself an eight percent increase year-over-year.
That said, the iPhone brand didn’t perform as well as expected, generating $42.63 billion USD (about $57.83 billion CAD). While this was a 9.67 percent year-over-year growth for the iPhone brand, it was below the estimated $43.21 billion USD (about $58.62 billion CAD). This suggests a softer demand for the tech giant’s latest iPhones, the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max.
Speaking to CNBC, Apple CEO Tim Cook insisted that iPhone sales were strong, stating the company has brought in more “switchers” — those who bought an iPhone after owning an Android device. He also said there were supply constraints on the iPhone 14 Pro.
Notably, nearly all of Apple’s brands exhibited growth this quarter, with the exception of the iPad, which dropped 13.06 percent year-over-year to $7.17 billion USD (about $9.73 billion CAD). The latest iPad models, the iPad (2022) and iPad Pro, launched earlier this week.
Mac experienced the most significant growth, generating $11.51 billion USD (about $15.61 billion CAD) vs. an estimated $9.36 billion USD (about $12.7 billion CAD) — a 25.39 percent year-over-year increase.
Other Products revenue, which includes the Apple Watch, came in at $9.65 billion USD (about $13.09 billion CAD) — a 9.85 percent year-over-year jump and above the $9.17 billion USD (about $12.44 billion CAD) estimate.
Finally, Apple’s Services division, consisting of the likes of the App Store, iCloud and Apple Music, brought in $19.19 billion USD (about $26.03 billion CAD). This was up 4.98 percent from Q4 2021, but below the projected $20.10 billion USD (about $27.26 billion CAD).
If you’re the type of person who still purchases physical video games, you’ll likely be disappointed to learn that Call of Duty Modern Warfare II‘s (MWII) disc only features 72.23MB of data.
No, that’s not a typo — even when you purchase the disc version of the latest Call of Duty, you still need to download over 100GB. Making matters worse, according to Eurogamer, Modern Warfare II takes up 150GB of space on the PlayStation 5, filling a significant portion of its 825GB of available storage. To be clear, this file size doesn’t even include Warzone 2.0.
What Activision has done with Modern Warfare II is ship what is nearly a blank disc designed to validate and prompt a download for the game solely. This relatively new form of DRM is some of the most frustrating yet and is awful for video game preservation. Imagine living in an area with slow or limited internet access, driving to your local Walmart to buy MWII, only to discover that you need to leave your console or PC on for several days to download the game you just purchased on a physical disc?
It’s unclear if this method of delivering physical titles will become more common, but it doesn’t bode well for the future of physical video games, especially regarding big-name titles.
While Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2‘s campaign has been available for the past week to those who pre-ordered, the game’s anticipated multiplayer mode doesn’t drop until tomorrow.
It should be noted that Activision Blizzard is facing ongoing legal action related to reported work culture issues. Specifically, the gaming giant was accused in a July 2021 lawsuit of fostering a toxic “frat boy” culture at its U.S. studios in which many employees, particularly women, dealt with harassment, gender discrimination, unequal pay and other forms of mistreatment. Bobby Kotick, the company’s CEO, has specifically come under fire for allegedly working to cover up these reports and has faced calls to resign, yet he still leads the company. Earlier this month, the company was hit with a new lawsuit alleging more sexual harassment.
Every month, Amazon adds several new series and movies to its streaming service, Prime Video, and November 2022 will be no different.
Below is everything set to hit and leave Prime Video in Canada. Amazon also shared some featured titles coming to Prime Video Channels, which are add-on channels with additional content for extra subscription fees (they’re noted below):
November 1st
Get Out
The Great Wall
November 4th
My Policeman (Amazon Original)
Neighbours
November 5th
Two And a Half Men S1-12
November 9th
Savage x Fenty Show (Amazon Original)
November 11th
The English (Amazon Original)
Mammals S1 (Amazon Original)
November 18th
The People We Hate at the Wedding (Amazon Original)
Sugar (Amazon Original)
Where the Crawdads Sing
November 23
Good Night Oppy (Amazon Original)
November 24th
I Love My Dad
November 25th
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Meet Cute
Fast Channels
Dangerous Liaisons S1 on STARZ – 11/6
Yellowstone S5 on Paramount+ – 11/13
Tulsa King S1 on Paramount+ – 11/13
Gangs of London S1 on AMC+ – 11/17
The Curse of Oak Island on STACKTV – 11/21
Amazon Prime is priced at $79 per year with a 30-day trial period. The trial isn’t available for those in Quebec, but Prime Video costs $79 for a 13-month subscription, giving you one extra month for the same price.
Amazon Prime Video is available on Android, iOS, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Google TV, PlayStation, Xbox and more.
Aerial view of mobile phone cell tower to illustrate lack of broadband internet service in rural areas and need for investment
Broadband Communications North’s (BCN) new pilot project will bring high-speed internet access to Manto Sipi Cree Nation.
BCN, an Indigenous network, will launch the project in partnership with ROCK Networks and OneWeb. The project will connect 24 First Nations communities in Northern Manitoba over the next five years.
“The project will have a monumental impact on the community. Residents will be able to access telemedicine, distance learning, and remote work,” Jason Neepin, BCN’s executive director, said. “Internet access can also improve justice, governance, and economic outcomes in the areas we serve.”
OneWeb’s constellation of low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites will power the project. ROCK Networks will incorporate the system into BCN’s network while monitoring the connection and providing BCN with ongoing support.
Manto Sipi Cree Nation has no access road, and equipment must be transported between January and February, during the ice road season. If transportation is completed as scheduled, the service will be available this spring.
