Tag: gaming

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Mobile Syrup

Xbox’s October update adds 4K dashboard, night mode and more

The October system update for Xbox consoles has begun to roll out.

As detailed in an Xbox blog post, the update adds features like a 4K dashboard, a night mode, and new Quick Settings. Keep reading for a more detailed breakdown:

4K dashboard

To start, Xbox Series X owners can take advantage of a dashboard that now outputs in native 4K resolution; previously, they only upscaled from 1080p to 4K.

Provided that you have a 4K display, you’ll be able to see this change reflected on Home, My Games & Apps, Guide, and many other places. Xbox says UI elements like game art and buttons will also “have increased sharpness and improved text readability.”

Night Mode

Next up is Night Mode, a suite of settings that adjusts light sources for those playing in the evening or are just generally sensitive to light. Xbox says lights can be dimmed for your connected display, the power button on your controller and even the light on the console. This is available on all Xbox consoles, but Series X and S owners also get an exclusive customizable blue light filter.

Xbox notes that these changes will apply across your Xbox system, games and apps, although they do “not impact performance, screenshots or game clips.”

What’s more, there’s also the option to create a night mode schedule so these changes will be automatically toggled depending on a given time. You can manually toggle this at any time and choose to have it apply at sunrise/sunset or based on a custom time.

These features can be found by heading to Settings > Accessibility > Night mode or Settings > TV & display options > Night mode.

Quick Settings

With the new Quick Settings menu in the Xbox Guide, you can now quickly toggle accessibility features without leaving your game or app. This menu will let you easily switch features on or off. Xbox says these changes will only apply to the particular active user profile, so families who share a console can still have their experiences tailored the way they like.

Those who want to test future Xbox updates before they go live can check out the company’s Insider program.

In other Xbox news, the company recently outlined more of its plans for the holidays, including a 20th-anniversary celebration, as well as the next batch of new Game Pass titles.

Source: Xbox

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Mobile Syrup

Among Us to release on PlayStation, Xbox and Xbox Game Pass on December 14

Developer Innersloth has confirmed that its massively popular multiplayer game Among Us is coming to PlayStation and Xbox consoles on December 14th.

Specifically, the game will be available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox Game Pass for Console. Cross-play will also be supported between all of these platforms. It’s also worth noting that the PlayStation version of the game will have exclusive Ratchet & Clank-themed content.

The social deduction party game originally launched on mobile and PC in 2018 but saw a significant surge in players in 2020 as streamers picked up the game amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A Nintendo Switch version launched last December.

A few physical collector’s editions have also been revealed — more information on those, including pre-order links, can be found here.

Source: Innersloth

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Mobile Syrup

Apple and Ubisoft’s Mythic Quest has been renewed for two more seasons

Apple has renewed Mythic Quest for a third and fourth season.

Rob McElhenney, the video game comedy’s co-creator, co-writer and star, announced the renewal in a video on social media.

Amusingly, the news came during an exchange between McElhenney and Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins, who narrated the show’s second COVID special, “Everlight.” Jason Sudeikis, the co-creator, co-writer and star of fellow acclaimed Apple TV+ comedy series Ted Lasso, also makes a fun appearance in the video.

Mythic Quest‘s second season wrapped up in June, although it hadn’t been clear until now whether the series would be returning. In the video, McElhenney confirms that Mythic Quest Season 3 will premiere sometime in 2022, before the third season of Ted Lasso.

Co-produced by video game publishing giant Ubisoft and Lionsgate Television, Mythic Quest follows a game development studio as it works on an expansion to its massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). Several of McElhenney’s creative partners on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, including Megan Ganz and Charlie Day, also work with him on Mythic Quest.

Image credit: Apple

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Mobile Syrup

Seagate’s new 2TB Storage Expansion Card costs almost as much as an Xbox Series X

Seagate has revealed new 2TB and 512GB Xbox Series X/S Storage Expansion Cards.

Since the Series X/S’ release, only a pricey 1TB ($299) variant has been available. Canadian pricing remains unclear, but in the U.S. the 2TB storage card costs $399.99 (about $493 CAD) and the 512GB card costs $139.99 (roughly $171.40).

While the 512GB card is a little more reasonably priced, the 2GB Expansion Card costs nearly as much as the $599 Series X.

Both cards will launch in mid-November in the United States. We’ll likely see the new Storage Expansion Card sizes in Canada during roughly the same period. MobileSyrup has reached out to Microsoft for more information regarding Canadian pricing.

Series X/S Storage Expansion Cards are compatible with Microsoft’s Xbox Velocity Architecture, enabling fast loading of Series X titles thanks to its 2.4 GB/s of raw I/O throughput, a number 40x the original Xbox One.

While playing last-gen games on the Series X with a standard USD HDD or SSD drive is possible, current-gen titles need to be installed on the consoles’ internal drive or on an Expansion Card. Further, if you play a last-gen game on the internal drive or expansion card, you’ll get improved load times.

While a Storage Expansion Card is far from necessary, the Series X’s 1TB or Series S’ 512GB built-in SSD can fill up after installing just a couple of games.

On the other side of the console war, though Sony’s strategy of allowing owners to install any compatible SSD in the PlayStation 5 is far more open, M.2 SSD drives remain relatively expensive.

Source: Microsoft 

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Mobile Syrup

Here are the gaming attractions at this year’s Fan Expo Canada

Fan Expo Canada is officially set to return this weekend, October 22nd to 24th, under a smaller, COVID-friendly ‘Limited Edition’ format.

In the pre-COVID times, MobileSyrup used to round up all of the gaming attractions that you could find at the country’s largest pop-culture event. It’s taking place once again in Ontario’s Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Normally, the show has a slew of game demos from publishers like Nintendo and Xbox and gaming-related guests like voice actors. However, it should be noted this year’s COVID-friendly show has significantly less gaming programming than usual.

To start, neither PlayStation, Nintendo nor Xbox — the ‘Big Three’ of the gaming publishers — are set to attend. The same goes for any other major gaming company. With Canada not having events like PAX, E3 or Gamescom, Fan Expo is usually the only way for the public to demo upcoming releases, but it appears that companies ultimately opted to skip the show’s first-ever COVID outing.

Fan Expo has reached out to MobileSyrup‘s inquiry about the gaming programming this year and will update this story once a response has been received.

What does that leave, then?

Last month, Fan Expo confirmed that Charles Martinet (the voice of Mario), Steve Downes (the voice of Master Chief) and Nolan North (the voice of Nathan Drake) were set to headline the gaming guests. The actors represented Nintendo, Xbox and PlayStation, respectively, making it a particularly neat lineup. Unfortunately, North cancelled recently, although Martinet and Downes are still set to appear on all three days.

Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador’s own Jennifer Hale, the voice of female Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect trilogy, also cancelled her appearance.

That said, there are still some actors who have had many prominent roles in video games, including Steve Blum (Grunt in Mass Effect, Wolverine in various Marvel games), Toronto’s own Tara Strong (Harley Quinn in various DC games, Rikku in Final Fantasy X), Josh Keaton (Spider-Man in various Marvel games, Spyro the Dragon in various Spyro games) and Christopher Sabat (Vegeta in the Dragon Ball Z games, Garland in the Final Fantasy series).

Tickets for Fan Expo start at $45 — you can learn more here.

Additionally, check out this page for a full breakdown of the show’s COVID-19 health and safety procedures. In general, though, know that proof of vaccination is required for entry, while masks must be worn at all times (outside of eating at the food court). If you’re planning to attend a panel, you should also keep in mind that seating — rather bizarrely — won’t be available. Fan Expo says this is to accommodate more people.

Finally, there’s an official free Fan Expo mobile app on Android and iOS that lets you keep up with show maps, schedules, announcements and more.

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Mobile Syrup

PlayStation Store is running a ‘Halloween’ sale with titles up to 75 percent off

Sony is celebrating Halloween early with a special themed sale on the PlayStation Store.

The Halloween sale offers over 570 titles, season passes and DLCs, including Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Borderlands 3, Resident Evil Village and more up to 75 percent off until November 4th, 2:59am ET.

Check out some of the notable deals below:

Find all titles under the Halloween sale here.

Image credit: PlayStation

Source: PlayStation

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Mobile Syrup

Xbox testing automatic muting of speakers when headphones are plugged in

Xbox is testing a new feature that allows your console to automatically mute your speakers when you plug in headphones.

This feature is rolling out now to Xbox Insiders on the Alpha Skip-Ahead ring to start.

Previously, users would have to mute their speakers separately from the headphones. This new automatic feature can be enabled in your console’s audio settings.

While timing for a wide release has yet to be confirmed, the current Xbox Insider testing suggests that will arrive in the coming months.

Source: Xbox

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Mobile Syrup

The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077’s PS5 and Xbox Series X/S updates have been delayed

The new-gen updates of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077 have been delayed, publisher CD Projekt has confirmed.

On social media, the company noted that the releases have been pushed back “based on recommendations supplied by teams supervising the development of both games.” The publisher apologized for the prolonged wait but said “we want to make it right.”

The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions of both titles will now drop in 2022 — Cyberpunk 2077‘s in the first quarter, and The Witcher 3‘s in the second. They had previously been set to arrive sometime in late 2021.

Specific features and gameplay from either title have not yet been revealed, although CD Projekt has confirmed that those who have purchased the games on last-gen consoles will receive the new-gen updates at no additional cost.

It’s likely that CD Projekt is being especially cautious with how well these versions perform, given the extra level of scrutiny that it’s fallen under over the past year. Since the disastrous, bug-ridden December 2020 launch of Cyberpunk 2077, the previously well-regarded company’s image has been tarnished.

In the near future, CD Projekt also has free downloadable add-ons for Cyberpunk 2077 to release, as well as paid expansions and some sort of multiplayer suite.

Image credit: CD Projekt

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Mobile Syrup

Microsoft EA Publisher and Assassin’s Creed sales discount tons of games

Microsoft is hosting two promotions at the moment: an Electronic Arts (EA) Publisher sale and an Assassin’s Creed Franchise sale, offering titles up to 75 percent off.

The Publisher sale ends on November 1st and the Assassin’s Creed sale ends on October 25th.

Below are some of the notable games from the Publisher’s sale:

To check out more of the Publisher’s games here, click here.

Below are some of the Assassin’s Creed games on sale:

To check out more of the Assassin’s Creed Franchise games here, click here.

Image credit: Ubisoft

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Mobile Syrup

Xbox Game Pass now has 100+ touch control titles

Microsoft has revealed the next wave of titles coming to Xbox Game Pass today which will also drive the number of games supporting Xbox touch control to over 100.

The company is adding 13 more titles to its roster of touch-enabled games, increasing the total to more than 100, marking a record high for Xbox Game Pass.

Touch controls were originally introduced with the launch of Xbox Cloud Gaming (xCloud) about a year ago. Touch-enabled titles enable Xbox Game Pass subscribers to stream games without a controller on Windows PCs, iOS devices, and Android phones and tablets. The titles offer gyro aim controls with the ability to rearrange and resize on-screen controls.

Since then, Xbox has consistently added touch-enabled games to its subscription service, with 13 new titles added today.

Check them out below:

  • Art of Rally
  • Boyfriend Dungeon
  • Crown Trick
  • Curse of the Dead Gods
  • Gears Tactics
  • Lethal League Blaze
  • Signs of the Sojourner
  • The Ascent
  • Train Sim World 2
  • Yakuza 0
  • Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
  • Yakuza Kiwami
  • Yakuza Kiwami 2

Find all touch-enabled titles on Xbox Game Pass here.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which includes first-party Microsoft games, third-party titles, cloud gaming and EA Play costs $16.99 CAD per month.

Further, Xbox also unveiled other titles coming to the platform later this month. Check them out below:

  • Dragon Ball FighterZ (Cloud and Console) – October 21
  • Echo Generation (Cloud, Console, and PC) – October 21
  • Everspace 2 (Game Preview) (PC) – October 21
  • Age of Empires IV (PC) – October 28
  • Alan Wake’s American Nightmare (Console and PC) – October 28
  • Backbone (Console) – October 28
  • Bassmaster Fishing 2022 (Cloud, Console, and PC) – October 28
  • Nongunz: Doppelganger Edition (Cloud, Console, and PC) – October 28
  • The Forgotten City (Cloud, Console, and PC) – October 28

Image credit: Xbox

Source: Xbox