Xbox Series X and Xbox One's New UI Receives More Details

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Microsoft recently offered a first look at the updated user interface that they'll be launching to go along with the looming release of the Xbox Series X, which will also be coming to Xbox One consoles, and now, via a new update shared on Xbox Wire, they've provided more details on what players can expect from the updated UI.

For starters, the Guide's landing page is being further streamlined, with multiple tabs to allow easy access to your recent activities, the My Games and Apps page, and the Dashboard, while bottoms at the bottom of the bar include buttons for access to utilities such as the search function, audio settings, notifications, Xbox Game Pass, and the Xbox Store.

Connectivity and social features are also seeing improvements, with a new notifications inbox that combines all alerts, game invites, and messages into a unified feed, pulled from all your Xbox apps. Meanwhile, individual volume control to party members has been added to the party chat options, while the Activity Feed has also been updated to make it cleaner and easier to read. Check out some of these changes in the screenshots below.

Most of the major changes being made to the UI were also recently highlighted in the Major Nelson podcast. Take a look below- the video's timestamped, so just hit play.

Microsoft were set to reveal more new details on the Xbox Series X – and allegedly the incessantly leaked Xbox Series S as well – later this month, but reports have suggested that those plans got pushed back into September.

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Borderlands 3: Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck DLC Out on September 10th

Borderlands 3 - Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck

Gearbox Software has officially revealed the first trailer and details for the fourth campaign DLC for Borderlands 3. Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck features the return of, you guessed it, Krieg as the Vault Hunters venture into his mind. The DLC is out on September 10th and included with the current Season Pass.

The story sees Tannis investing the source of the psychos' madness and believe it's due to a place called Vaulthalla. As a result, she transports the Vault Hunters into Krieg's mind, going through his various memories while also dealing with his varied personalities. Naturally, you'll find his perception of Maya somewhere inside as well.

The DLC features new foes, lots of new Legendary Weapons and gear, new cosmetics, additional side missions and Crew Challenges and much more. Non-DLC owners will also received a free update that increases the level cap to 65 and will be the last level cap increase planned "for the foreseeable future." New mini-events will also be going live till September 10th including Mayhem Made Wild from August 27th to September 3rd which adds all Easy modifiers to Mayhem Mode. There's also Making It Rain which provides more cash drops from September 3rd to 10th.

Marvel's Avengers War Table Livestream Set for September 1, New Post-Launch Character to be Announced

marvel's avengers image

Square Enix have confirmed via a press release that the next War Table livestream for Marvel's Avengers will be going live shortly before the game's launch in early September. The livestream will be broadcast on September 1 at 10 AM PT, and the focus will primarily be on post-launch content 

For starters, and perhaps most notably, another new post-launch playable Avenger will be revealed. So far, Hawkeye has been confirmed as the first Avenger to be added to the game following its launch, while Spider-Man will also be coming to the game for PlayStation players in 2021. Recently, datamining of the demo has potentially spilled the beans on a slew of unannounced characters– any one of these could be announced next Tuesday.

On top of that, the War Table livestream will also feature an in-depth look at the first post-launch story season of the game, with promises of reveals of "some of the game's extensive slate of additional heroes, villains, missions, regions, and gameplay modes." Square Enix have promised "powerful" post-launch support for the game, so expectations will be high.

Other than that, you can expect some deep dives into the gameplay as well, with the progression system seemingly being highlighted, as well as "hints and tips for taking on the game's more than 50 different types of enemies", and more details on "Marvel's Avengers' high-level content."

Marvel's Avengers launches not long after the War Table livestream, on September 4 for the PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia. It will also be coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X later in the year. Check out the game's launch trailer through here.

Mafia: Definitive Edition Narrative Trailer Announced for August 27th

mafia definitive edition

Gamescom Opening Night Live is looking like quite the stacked affair with games like Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart and Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War making appearances. Hangar 13's Mafia: Definitive Edition can be added to the list as well. According to the series' Twitter, there will be a new narrative trailer at Thursday's show.

Mafia: Definitive Edition is a remake of the very first game. Though it maintains the same story and characters, numerous cutscenes have been recreated while a new lighting engine is in place. New vehicles like motorcycles and additional weapons have also been added into the mix.

Those who want to experience the same old school difficulty as the original can also try out Classic Difficulty, which makes ammo scarce, removes most assists while driving and makes the cops a lot more aggressive. Mafia: Definitive Edition is out on September 25th for Xbox One, PS4, PC and Google Stadia. It's included in the Mafia: Trilogy for $59.99 but can also be purchased separately for $39.99.

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart Gameplay Showcase Confirmed for Gamescom Opening Night Live

ratchet and clank rift apart

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is perhaps one of the most exciting games confirmed for the PS5 so far, and soon, we'll be getting another look at it. Geoff Keighley recently took to Twitter to confirm that Insomniac's upcoming action platformer will be premiering a gameplay demo at Gamescom Opening Night Live this Thursday, August 27. 

The upcoming PS5 exclusive joins a long list of games that will be taking the stage at the upcoming event. The show is confirmed to be over two hours long, with 38 games from 18 publishers. Of these, several have already been revealed. We'll be getting a look at Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War following its full reveal tomorrow, while The Ancient Gods, the first expansion of DOOM Eternal, will also be unveiled in full. Fall Guys: Season 2 will also be revealed, while Destiny 2: Beyond Light – Stasis will be receiving a deeper look as well.

Gamescom Opening Night Live is scheduled for August 27 at 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET / 8 PM CEST. We'll be covering the show live, so stay tuned for all updates.

Fortnite To Remain Off iOS App Store, But Unreal Tools Won't Be Affected For Time Being, Per New Ruling

epic games apple

No doubt, at this point you've heard about the high profile fight between Epic Games and Apple. The two massive companies have clashed over the cut that the digital storefront takes. After offering direct payment options in Fortnite, which was against App Store guidelines, the shooter was removed from the iOS App Store (as well as Google's Play Store shortly after). Now, the two are battling it out in court for what will most likely be years unless one side drops their respective case. And today, we got one of the first major rulings.

As reported via Bloomberg, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled slightly in favor of Apple, concluding that the game will remain off the App Store. While that is a blow to Epic Games' effort, on the other hand Judge Rogers also ruled that Epic Games did not breach their Unreal Engine contract, meaning that the ban that Apple had planned for Unreal Engine tools will not go into effect. But that latter is not permanent, instead being a temporary restraining order (TRO), so it's possible the ban could still potentially come. September 28 was set as the date for the next phase, a  preliminary injunction, at the request of Epic Games.

This is the first of what is sure to be a very long process, but also one that both sides came out with some gained and loss. Though, it seems Epic Games lost the most since the ban on Unreal Engine was only temporary. But there's a still a potentially long way to go here, and we'll keep you updated as more updates come in.

The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope PC Requirements Revealed

the dark pictures little hope

The first game in Supermassive Games' ambitious anthology series, The Dark Pictures, released last year with Man of Medan. The game was a success, selling over 1 million copies, though some did find issues with the title. Now, we continue on with the second game in the series, Little Hope. As expected, this time around we follow a story with a different setting and type of horror. It'll come just in time for Halloween, and we also now know what kind of specs you'll need on the PC version.

The game's Steam page has been updated with the specs. They are pretty close to what the previous title was with minimum requirements of an Intel Core i5-3470 or AMD FX-8350 with 8GB of RAM and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon HD 8570. Recommended requirements bump that up slightly to an Intel Core i5- 8400 or AMD Ryzen 5 1600 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 580. Both requires 80GB of storage and DirectX 12.

The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope will release on October 30th for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.

MINIMUM:

Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 10 64bit
Processor: Intel Core i5-3470 or AMD FX-8350
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti or AMD Radeon HD 8570
DirectX: Version 12
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 80 GB available space

RECOMMENDED:

Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 10 64-bit
Processor: Intel Core i5- 8400 or AMD Ryzen 5 1600
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 580
DirectX: Version 12
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 80 GB available space

Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War Out on November 13th for Current-Gen – Rumor

call of duty black ops cold war

More details about Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War are revealed thanks to data-miners who went through the latest update for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Interestingly, the legal terms for the Battle Pass Bundle, which was also leaked in the official description, seem to hint at the release date. They indicate that the 10 Tier Skips for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone included in the bundle must be redeemed by November 13th 2021.

Since these offers are valid for one year after a game's release, this seemingly confirms that Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War will release on November 13th, at least for current-gen consoles. We already know that it's coming to next-gen platforms as well, that too without any free option for current-gen players to upgrade. It's just a matter of whether these will launch on the same day as the current-gen versions.

But wait, there's more. Data-miners have also seemingly discovered the reveal date for the game's multiplayer which is on September 9th (as pointed out by COD Tracker on Twitter). Take this with a grain of salt but it's not too far-fetched given how close the game's reported release is. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.

Destroy All Humans! PS5 And Xbox Series X Versions Not Currently Planned

destroy all humans!

Last month, we got a return to the world of Destroy All Humans! The game was a remake of the first title in the franchise, and followed the alien Crypto as he reeked havoc on a 1950s styled America. The game seems to have done well, exceeding publisher THQ Nordic's expectations. But it does seem if you're waiting and/or hoping for a next gen version of the game, you may be out of luck.

In our interview with Creative Director Jean-Marc Haessig and Technical Director Johan Conradie, when asked about a potential next gen port Haessig was pretty blunt in saying there was no plans for one. "Currently we are working on after release maintenance of the game. A next-gen port of Destroy All Humans! is not planned." While it's not been confirmed, most likely the game will be backwards compatible with the PS5 and Xbox Series X, so you should be able to play the game if you get one of the systems, but if you're hoping for a naively enhanced version you're probably out luck. But within that same interview, when asked about a potential Switch version, the duo said they "will evaluate any possibilities for the future," so there's also a chance.

Destroy All Humans! is available now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. You can read our review of the game through here.

Project CARS 3 Gets Over 9 Minutes Of Gameplay On Ultra High Settings

Project CARS 3_03

It's time to take some more laps around the course in the latest entry in the racing series, Project CARS 3. It's been a busy year for Slightly Mad Studios between this and The Fast and The Furious game earlier in the year, but fans win all the same. Project CARS will release at the end of this week, but today we got over 9 minutes of gameplay on some of the game's highest settings.

The video comes from YouTuber Shirrako who is showing off the game at ultra high settings. He has all HUD elements switched off, and explains he's using a 2080 TI graphics card to push a resolution of 2160p and 60 FPS framerate. Now, obviously, a lot of people's version of the game won't look quite like this, but it still manages to give an idea of how the game can look, as well as how it plays.

Project CARS 3 will release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC August 28th. You can check out the PC requirements through here if you do want to try and get a pretty close resemblance to the video below.