Best-Selling Games And Consoles Of January 2022 Revealed For The US: Pokemon And PS5

The NPD Group has released its latest report, this one showing which games, consoles, and accessories sold the best in January 2022 in the US. The two biggest takeaways were that the Nintendo Switch fell from its top spot on the hardware sales chart and Pokemon Legends: Arceus was January’s best-selling game.

Starting with hardware, the PS5 was the best-seller for January 2022 for both units and dollars. The Xbox Series family of systems ranked second, and there was no mention of Switch, but presumably it finished third. Total spending on hardware rose 22% to $390 million. It was the biggest January since January 2009 ($447 million).

Ran this Twitter poll earlier this week.
PS5 ended up leading in both units and dollars because it had the most product available.
Console hardware remains supply constrained. Results are more reflective of available supply rather than pure demand. pic.twitter.com/Amvul6ZNU6

— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) February 11, 2022

Moving to game sales, Pokemon Legends: Arceus was the top-seller for January 2022, despite launching very late in the month (January 28). In fact, NPD’s reporting period ended on January 29, so Legends Arceus was the biggest game of January after only 1-2 days of accounting.

Call of Duty: Vanguard finished second in January, followed by Monster Hunter Rise, Madden NFL 22, and God of War to round out the top five. The NPD noted that Monster Hunter Rise and God of War surged up the charts thanks to launching on Steam.

For mobile games, spending dropped 6.8% year-over-year, as the category shifted back to pre-pandemic revenue trends, the NPD said. The organization said the “cooldown” in spending is not reflective of a weakening mobile market but instead it highlights the “return of typical seasonality…”

Candy Crush Saga, Roblox, Coin Master, Genshin Impact, Garena Free Fire, Evony: The King’s Return, Clash of Clans, Pokemon Go, Homescapes, and Royal Match were some of the biggest performers in January 2022.

Accessories, meanwhile, saw sales decline 15% year-over-year, to $185 million. The Xbox Elite Series 2 controller was January’s best-seller in the accessories category.

In total–across hardware, games, and accessories–spending on games in the US fell 2% during January 2022 to $4.7 billion. While console sales saw double-digit growth, it wasn’t enough to offset the drop in spending for games and accessories.

January 2022 Top 20 Best-Selling Games

Pokemon Legends: ArceusCall of Duty: VanguardMonster Hunter: RiseMadden NFL 22God of WarMarvel’s Spider-Man: Miles MoralesFIFA 22Mario Kart 8*Rainbow Six: ExtractionBattlefield 2042Pokemon: Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl*Far Cry 6MinecraftNBA 2K22*Mario Party Superstars*Animal Crossing: New Horizons*Forza Horizon 5Halo InfiniteSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate*Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

*Digital sales not included

Top Nintendo Games January 2022

Pokemon Legends: Arceus*Mario Kart 8*Pokemon: Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl*Mario Party Superstars*Animal Crossing: New Horizons*Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*Just Dance 2022The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*Super Mario 3D World*New Super Mario Bros.*

*Digital sales not included

Top PlayStation Games January 2022

Call of Duty: VanguardMarvel’s Spider-Man: Miles MoralesMadden NFL 22FIFA 22Rainbow Six: ExtractionGhost of TsushimaMarvel’s Spider-ManBattlefield 2042NBA 2K22*Far Cry 6

*Digital sales not included

Top Xbox Games January 2022

Call of Duty: VanguardMadden NFL 22Far Cry 6Battlefield 2042Halo: InfiniteForza Horizon 5Rainbow Six: ExtractionNBA 2K22*FIFA 22Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

*Digital sales not included

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Alienware’s X14 Gaming Laptop Is Slim, Stylish, And Powerful

If you’re on the hunt for a mobile gaming station that packs some serious graphical firepower, the new Alienware x14 might be what you’re looking for. Its thinnest laptop to date, the Alienware x14 uses a dual-torque element hinge that creates space within the system itself to achieve a 0.57-inch maximum height, which is technically slimmer than your last sandwich. hello

Internally, the x14 is no slouch either, as its entry-level build includes 16GB Dual-Channel LP-DDR5 4800MHz RAM, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 4GB GPU, 12th-gen Intel Core i7 processor, and a 256GB NVMe SSD. If you feel like maxing out what’s possible with this laptop, you can bump those stats up to 32GB of Dual-Channel DDR5 RAM, a GeForce RTX 3060 6GB GPU, and a 2TB NVMe SSD.

Gallery
See at Alienware

One vital part of the x14’s design that all models will share is its display. All versions come equipped with a 14″ FHD 144Hz display, that also features Nvidia G-Sync and Advanced Optimus technology, which will provide a crisp and vibrant image without without having to worry about screen-tearing.

The keyboard may not have the tactile feedback of a mechanical setup, but Alienware says that the configuration features a 1.5mm key travel and includes N-key rollover technology as well as anti-ghosting that helps keep the laptop’s weight down to just over 4lbs.

Pricing starts at $1,650 for the Alienware x14 when it goes on sale from February 11. Alienware also has a few other products arriving this year, including the Tri-Mode Wireless Gaming Mouse for $150 that features competition-level precision, long battery life, and magnetic fast-charging, and the Alienware 34″ curved QD-OLED gaming monitor, the world’s first Quantum Dot OLED gaming monitor.

For other gaming laptop options, you can check out Razer’s upcoming line of Blade notebooks as well as a bunch of great deals at Best Buy right now. If you’re shopping for gaming laptops on a budget, make sure to check out our roundup of the best cheap gaming laptops.

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Where Is Xur Today? (Feb. 11-15) – Destiny 2 Xur Location And Exotics Guide

We’re quickly running out of Xur visits in Destiny 2 before the launch of The Witch Queen, so if you’re looking to get new Exotics and legendary gear from the Agent of the Nine, you’ll want to visit him this weekend. Here’s where you can find Xur this weekend and what Exotics he’s offering.

Xur arrives with the daily reset on Friday so we’ll update this article with his location and inventory as soon as he shows up.

Xur is present every weekend in Destiny 2, starting with the daily reset at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET each Friday. His exact location is always a mystery when he first arrives, as he is not listed on the map, and for novice players, he can be easy to miss. However, there are a set number of locations where he takes up residence, including the Tower Hangar area, on Nessus in Watcher’s Grave, and in the Winding Cove area of the EDZ.

Alongside changes in his location, Xur’s inventory also rotates weekly. That means it’s worth visiting him each time to check out his new weapons and rolls on Exotic and Legendary armor. You can visit him any time between his arrival Friday and the weekly reset at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET the following Tuesday when Xur departs the solar system.

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Call Of Duty: Warzone 2 May Be Announced Tomorrow

Infinity Ward seems to have acknowledged the rumblings that a Call of Duty: Warzone 2 announcement is imminent. The sequel to Call of Duty: Warzone is reportedly going to be revealed tomorrow, February 11.

Bloomberg recently reported that Activision Blizzard is currently working on three Call of Duty games, all of which are coming to both Xbox and PlayStation consoles. Infinity Ward is supposedly working on a follow-up to 2019’s Modern Warfare, Treyarch is developing a new game, and a sequel to Warzone is also in the works.

Industry leaker Tom Henderson followed-up this report with additional announcements for Warzone 2, tweeting that the “embargo for Warzone 2 releases [February 11].” He wrote in a separate tweet that Warzone 2 would come with Modern Warfare 2, adding that he hadn’t been informed if that meant both games would launch the same day.

“Warzone 2 will come with Modern Warfare 2”
But it’s unclear if that means day 1 as it wasn’t specified. pic.twitter.com/ddjebnbPt1

— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) February 10, 2022

According to Henderson, Infinity Ward also took lessons learned from the original Warzone to inform the team on how to go about developing Warzone 2. In a tweet, he says that his “developer friends” said that issues were created in the original Warzone when Infinity Ward tried to integrate Black Ops Cold War.

On February 3, Infinity Ward tweeted that a “new generation of Call of Duty” would be coming soon, implying a surprise announcement was due. Following Henderson’s leaks, the developer tweeted out a very different message (embedded below) that seems to imply the surprise may have been spoiled.

pic.twitter.com/FAcOp2vwQZ

— Infinity Ward (@InfinityWard) February 10, 2022

Now, does that tweet confirm anything? No, of course not. But the implication is there. Also of note: Treyarch and the Call of Duty League are set to host a Match Preshow Ranked Play Roundtable on February 11 at 11:15 AM PT / 2:15 PM ET. That sounds like something that would make for a prime time to reveal something the Call of Duty community would be excited for, so perhaps the Warzone 2 announcement will drop just before or during the show. That’s all speculation on our part, though.

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Call Of Duty: Warzone And Vanguard Season 2 Battle Pass Details Revealed

A massive content drop is arriving to Vanguard and Warzone with the launch of Call of Duty Season 2 on February 14. This new season will be themed around armored war machines and Captain Butcher’s newly introduced Task Force Yeti, and Activision has already revealed what players can expect from this new season’s battle pass.

Season 2 will bring a new 100-tier battle pass to level up, which offers both free and premium tiers of content. There will be over 30 free tiers in the pass, which is loaded with all the normal cosmetics like watches and weapon blueprints. However, the real meat of the free content comes with Season 2’s additions of a killstreak, more perks, and two new weapons.

Unlocked at tier 1, the Ball Turret Gunner, which was a killstreak previously featured in Call of Duty: WWII, is an ability that can be earned after achieving a 12 killstreak. At tier 15 of the pass, players can unlock the KG M40 assault rifle, which is described as a high-caliber, fully-automatic weapon that is a strong contender for mid- to long-range gunfights. And at tier 31, the Whitley light machine gun is unlocked. Activision describes this new light machine gun as having a slow fire rate with low recoil.

Additionally, the two new perks are called Armory and Mechanic. Unlocked at tier 21, Mechanic is a perk meant to provide a buff to the Field Upgrade charge time, making it useful for players who love to use Field Upgrades. The Armory perk is unlocked at tier 44, and it will serve as a direct counter to the Engineer perk. This is described as an ideal perk for players who use more equipment, such as Demolition Charges, concussion mines, and placeable Field Equipment pieces.

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For players looking for even more rewards, the premium battle pass can be purchased for 1,000 CoD Points or $10, which includes additional cosmetic items, weapon blueprints, and the new operator Anna Drake. A member of Task Force Yeti, Anna’s first skin can be instantly unlocked at tier 0. She also has a legendary rarity “White Mirage” skin that’s rewarded at tier 100. The operator Constanze also gets a new “Black Leaf” skin that outfits her in a black leather jacket.

Outside of the battle pass content, there is also an Armored Titan operator skin coming as another Attack on Titan crossover bundle. Season 2 is set to bring tanks and a plenty of Zombies content to Vanguard, while Warzone is getting bomber planes, NPCs, and toxic gas.

Call of Duty’s publisher is in the process of being acquired by Microsoft, pending regulatory approval, but the deal isn’t expected to go through until later this year at the soonest. Microsoft’s president recently said that the company wants to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo, assuming the acquisition goes through.

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Call of Duty: Vanguard Patch Notes Fixes Broken Bundles And Adds Game Improvements

Call of Duty: Vanguard‘s Season 2 update is already available for download, and while the seasonal content doesn’t go live until February 14, the patch notes detail some gameplay improvements and bug fixes have already been implemented with the new update.

Multiplayer updates

According to the patch notes from Sledgehammer Games, improvements have been made to Call of Duty: Vanguard that should result in better connectivity and lower crash rates. These changes include several improvements to player textures and animations that resulted in packet burst spikes, and a bug fix for an issue that previously resulted in players disconnecting during MVP Highlight Animations. The time to connect to online services should also be reduced.

A few killstreak bugs were also squashed ahead of Season 2. The developer says it fixed a bug that resulted in graphical corruption when attack dogs were killed by a Glide Bomb killstreak, and another bug that resulted in the flare and smoke VFX from a previously called-in Mortar Barrage killstreak to temporarily reappear. Additionally, deploying the Mortar Barrage will no longer force the player’s weapon to switch.

Not all of Call of Duty’s cosmetic weapons bundles have been working as intended, but the patch notes show several fixes for broken weapon tracers or missing items. Sledgehammer Games says that players who purchased the Year of the Tiger bundle but did not receive the Tiger Blueprint, should now have the item. Tracers for the Red Reactor Mastercraft should now be displayed on weapons as intended, and the Ashed tracers for the Graveyard Shift Mastercraft will now display correctly when applied to the Ore Sniper Rifle.

Zombies updates

For Zombies, a few changes were made to Artifacts. The Energy Mine now triggers the Splatterfest Covenant, while Frost Blast Tier I now freezes Sturmkriegers. The patch notes also addressed an issue where players weren’t being ignored by zombies after activating Aether Shroud immediately following a Self-Revive.

Players should hopefully notice that Zombies mode runs smoother now. The update mentions fixes for various stability issues related to Covenants, objectives, perks, Power-Ups, and equipment, as well as corrections for various UI issues related to Challenges.

Additionally, players can now unlock Season 1’s Cooper Carbine assault rifle and Gorenko Anti-Tank Rifle sniper through in-game challenges for Zombies mode.

Here are all the details for Call of Duty Season 2 for both Vanguard and Warzone. The recent cinematic trailer reveals a season themed around tanks and chemical warfare.

The full patches can be seen below, as shared by Sledgehammer Games.

MULTIPLAYER UPDATES

Stability

Made several improvements to player textures and animations that resulted in Packet Burst spikes.Stability improvements should result in better connectivity and lower crash rates. The time to connect to Online Services should also be reduced.Fixed a bug that resulted in disconnecting during MVP Highlight Animations.

Maps

GeneralA thorough pass on map environments has been completed to fix objects with unintended collision, issues with portaling through the ground, and to remove out-of-map exploits.Champion HillThere will no longer be two consecutive buy rounds at the beginning of every Champion Hill Duos 2v2 private match.A bug has been resolved that resulted in players losing Perk and Field Upgrade functionality in Private Matches if they played a match in Champion Hill previously.Spawn improvements have been made for teams of three.

Modes

ControlFixed a bug that resulted in matches ending prematurely after a spectator disconnects.Late match joiners are now able to spawn in when lives are available.Swapping to spectate/different teams now consistently updates the lives left.The last player alive warning now consistently appears.Private MatchesSilent Plant Option now works in Search and Destroy Private matches (fixed Feb 3rd).

Progression

Seasonal ChallengesAll players can now unlock Season 1 Mastery Cards after completing all challenges.Field Specialist challenge is now tracking for all players.Counter Measures challenges are now tracking consistently for all players.Operator ChallengesThe Diamond operator skins will now unlock for Barbarian and Shadow operators.Welgun Gold and Diamond camos are now unlockable after completing all weapon Challenges.Launchers Ground based Killlstreaks now count towards the ‘Deadeye’ camo.

Weapon Adjustments

Combat ShieldFixed a bug that exposed player’s heads to damage above the shield.Throwing KnifeDistortion VFX have been removed.

Equipment

Incendiary GrenadeFixed a bug that caused additionally visuals to appear when Incendiary Grenades are used.Number of Incendiary Grenade uses are now tracked in your combat record.

Perks

DauntlessSuppression no longer applies to players with the Dauntless perk when the player is hit by shots.EngineerPlayers are no longer able to see an enemy Goliath’s diamond through walls without the Engineer perk.

Killstreaks

Glide BombFixed a bug that resulted in graphical corruption when Attack Dogs were killed by a Glide Bomb.Mortar BarrageFixed a bug that resulted in the flare and smoke VFX from previously called-in Mortar Barrages temporarily re-appear.Deploying the Mortar Barrage will no longer force-switch the player’s weapon.FlamenautActivating the killstreak and getting killed at the same time will now grant you the killstreak.

Field Upgrade

Fix a bug with Deployable Cover that resulted in constant screen shake.

Bundles & MTX

Attack on TitanFixed a bug that resulted in missing VFX on the Kar98k.Year of the Tiger Players who purchased this Bundle but did not receive the Tiger Blueprint, should now have the item.Red Reactor Mastercraft Tracers are now displayed on weapons as intended.Graveyard Shift Mastercraft“Ashed” tracers will now display correctly when applied to the Ore Sniper Rifle.AnimalisticFixed a lighting bug with the Aquatint SMG that cause unintended lighting effect.Santa SlayThe Lucas Operator outfit, “Yarn Burner”, is no longer invisible for some players.

UI/UX

A bug has been fixed that stopped players being unable to select a weapon when editing Prestige weapon classes.Prestige player progression is now viewable and tracking properly.Watch preview is no longer missing from the Battle Pass menu.

Misc

A bug resulting in Play of the Game not playing or ending early has been fixed.Quips no longer play after an Operator is dead.Free Trial players should no longer encounter the error “This content is only available in the full game.

ZOMBIES PATCH NOTES

Maps

“Terra Maledicta”New Zombies experience located in Egypt available on Feb. 14th.ArenasThree new Arenas available in “Terra Maledicta”: Eastern Desert, Corrupted Lands, and Hall of Truth.

Story Quest

New Story Quest available in “Terra Maledicta” starting at 9AM PT / 12PM ET on Feb. 14th.

New Intel

New narrative intel available in “Terra Maledicta” to advance the Dark Aether story.

Wonder Weapons

Ray GunRay Gun Wonder Weapon available via the Mystery Box and loot drops on Feb. 10th.Decimator ShieldAvailable via the Story Quest in “Terra Maledicta.”Added to the Mystery Box once it has been obtained from the Story Quest.Offers players superior protection and the unique Decimation Blast ability.

New Ally

Vercanna the LastNew Dark Aether entity available, featuring the Healing Aura ability via her Artifact, the Wand of the Wilds.

Enemies

Zaballa the DeceiverNew enemy type added to “Terra Maledicta” and “Der Anfang.”

Objectives

SacrificeNew Objective type available in “Terra Maledicta,” and added to “Der Anfang” at a later date.Keep the Syphoncores from feeding on undead essence to stop the hordes from being unleashed. Prevent zombies from filling all three Syphoncores to stop the dark ceremony and complete the Objective.VoidModified the way the Objective complete XP bonus is awarded when returning to Stalingrad after a Void Objective in “Der Anfang.”HarvestClosed exploits related to the Sin Eater in “Der Anfang.”

Artifacts

Healing AuraNew upgradable ability available via Vercanna the Last’s Artifact.Tiers: Tier I – The Wand of the Wilds summons Vercanna’s Life Energy to instantly heal yourself and allies to full health.Tier II – Knock down normal enemies and stun Sturmkriegers near each player.Tier III – Revive all downed allies.Tier IV – Revived allies have their lost Perks returned.Tier V – The Life Energy persists at each location for 10 seconds and continues to heal and revive players.Energy MineEnergy Mine now triggers the Splatterfest Covenant.Frost BlastFrost Blast Tier I now freezes Sturmkriegers.Aether ShroudAddressed an issue where players weren’t being ignored by zombies after activating Aether Shroud immediately following a Self-Revive.

Covenants

Artifact WardNew ability with three rarities added to the Altar of Covenants on Feb. 10th.Equip for a chance to trigger your Artifact for free when hit by a melee attack from the rear.Rarities: Rare: Being hit by a melee attack on the back has a chance to trigger your ArtifactEpic: Being hit by a melee attack on the back has a higher chance to trigger your Artifact.Legendary: Being hit by a melee attack anywhere has a higher chance to trigger your Artifact.

Weapons

Season TwoKG M40 and Whitley available in Zombies loadouts once unlocked via the Season Two Battle Pass.Unlock ChallengesNew Weapon Unlock Challenges added to Zombies for the Cooper Carbine and Gorenko Anti-Tank Rifle.SupportThe Warmachine and Deathmachine can now be obtained from the Mystery Box, chests, and as loot drops from enemies.Addressed an issue where critical damage was not being correctly displayed for the Warmachine.GeneralAddressed various issues with attempting to swap out a melee weapon for a weapon from the ground.

Pack-a-Punch Camos

New CamosThree new camos available at the Pack-a-Punch machine in “Terra Maledicta.”GeneralPack-a-Punch Camos in “Der Anfang” are now animated.Pack-a-Punch Camos now properly apply to Weapon Blueprints, weapons found in the Mystery Box, and weapons dropped by enemies.

Challenges

Season ChallengesNew Season Challenges available at the start of Season Two.Addressed an issue where the Season One Mastery Calling Card was not displayed correctly.GeneralAddressed an issue where Launchers and the Combat Shield were not correctly contributing to certain Challenges.Addressed various UI issues related to Challenges.

Stability

Fixed various stability issues related to Covenants, Objectives, Perks, Power-Ups, and EquipmentRead MoreGameSpot – Game News

Apex Legends: How To Turn Mad Maggie’s Ultimate Into A Fireball

With Apex Legends Season 12 in full swing, everyone has had a bit of time to get their hands on newcomer Mad Maggie. As you might expect, the extended hands-on time with the legend has allowed players to discover unique ways to utilize her kit for maximum damage, utility, and fun. One such trick comes from YouTuber Skeptation, who has found out that you can turn Mad Maggie’s ultimate ability into a ball of fire with just a bit of ingenuity and some decent aim.

Mad Maggie’s Wrecking Ball is already a pretty strong ultimate ability that lays down a line of zig-zagging speed boosts and explodes on enemies, knocking them back and doing a minor amount of damage. But by combining her ultimate with her Riot Drill tactical ability, you can actually turn it into a flaming ball of death with significant area-of-effect damage. As the ball travels, it deals some of the Riot Drill’s tick damage to anything caught in its path, and then it does a bit of extra burn damage on enemies hit by the already-damaging explosion of the Wrecking Ball at the end of the ultimate.

While this may sound like a relatively minor boost, Apex Legends is a fast-paced and strategic game where every bit of extra damage counts, so it may be worth pulling off in some choice situations. However, doing so is a little trickier than it may sound and will undoubtedly take some practice.

In order to properly attach Mad Maggie’s Riot Drill to her Wrecking Ball, follow these simple steps:

Aim the Wrecking Ball at the ground just a bit in front of you.Fire the Wrecking Ball toward your target(s).Wait for the ball to bounce once, then quickly fire your Riot Drill at it.

If your aim is true, you’ll attach the Riot Drill to the Wrecking Ball, effectively creating a fireball that can burn your enemies and bounce them around for some excellent disorientation. Look at you – you’re basically a fire mage now.

Make sure you combine this neat new trick with some of our Mad Maggie tips to optimize your playstyle with the rebel warlord.

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CrossfireX First Update Planned For Early March With New Maps And Bug Fixes

CrossfireX is available now on Xbox Series X and Xbox One, and the developers at Stove are aware of various bugs players have encountered so far. An update is planned for early March which will address some of these issues, as well as bring new maps.

Among the problems players are currently experiencing is an aim-down-sights bug when using the CAR-4 that causes ADS to go in and out while shooting. Sliding is also not functioning correctly, with slides being stopped when hitting the side of an object. In addition, Stove states that the game’s first update will “improve the experience of speed reduction while sliding” as well.

Changes will come to the game’s multiplayer “Boogieman” too. Being the Boogieman will become more difficult thanks to the planned removal of the Boogieman’s health recovery and a change that will prevent them from earning additional points.

“These updates will take some time, but we are dedicated to including all of them in our first game update, which is planned for early March, 2022,” a post on the official CrossfireX website reads. The update is slated to bring “several” new maps to the game as well, which will be playable in both the game’s Classic and Modern game modes.

The team is also aware of beta reward skins not being distributed properly and is currently working on a fix, which will include additional “compensation” for affected players. It’s unclear if players waiting on their beta rewards will need to wait until the game’s planned March update or if a fix will be coming sooner.

CrossfireX includes both a multiplayer mode complete with multiple game types and a battle pass, as well as a single player campaign developed by Control-developer Remedy. The game, including the campaign, is playable via Xbox Game Pass, although there currently are reports of the campaign having not unlocked properly.

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Horizon Forbidden West Has An Impressive Number Of Accessibility Features

Ahead of its launch later this month, Sony has been revealing more about the world of Horizon Forbidden West through a series of trailers and gameplay deep dives. This week, the focus is on the accessibility of the game and the options available to players who want to fine-tune the experience of exploring a land where giant robot snakes are at the top of the food chain.

Some of these options were previously seen in Horizon Zero Dawn, but developer Guerrilla explained in a PS Blog post that there will be plenty of new options to select from as well. General accessibility settings include subtitles that can be tweaked to be more visible, and you can select your preferred language–both spoken and subtitles–when you start the game for the first time.

A notebook creates an expansive encyclopedia containing useful information about characters, machines, and data points found in the world, and is designed to be easily accessible in case you need to brush up on any gameplay mechanics.

In the gameplay and difficulty settings department, Horizon Forbidden West has five difficulty settings that are tailored to give you as much challenge as you want. Story Mode eases the combat experience so you can explore the wilderness without having to worry about being irreparably mauled by rampaging robots, and on the opposite end of the spectrum there is Very Hard mode which will push Aloy’s survival skills to the limits.

A custom difficulty option will allow you to adjust various factors, such as damage levels, while the hunting aspect of the game has an Easy Loot system that’s designed to protect valuable resources from being destroyed while you engage in combat against a machine. Weapons and combat settings can be eased up further with aim assist and temporarily slowing down time while you cycle through your gear, and many of Auto functions can be set for Aloy’s concentration gauge, sprinting, healing, and Shieldwing skills.

As for controls using the DualSense controller, Guerrilla added that there’ll be presets available–including left-handed support–fully remappable gameplay controls with guidance on any potential conflicts, and the Co-pilot system. This allows a second PlayStation controller with mirrored controls access to the game–either DualSense or DualShock 4–and was designed based on feedback and support from Guerrilla’s sightless accessibility consultant.

Lastly, a number of audio and visual settings can also be adjusted. A number of these options are designed to trim the volume of machine sounds, weapon and explosion sounds, or ambient sounds on the PS5 edition of the game, which can be helpful for people who are easily overstimulated. Triggering sounds that can potentially affect people who have Tinnitus can be switched off and replaced with Mono Audio.

In case you missed it, you can catch up on our guide to everything we know about Horizon Forbidden West. The game launches on PS5 and PS4 on February 18, with several editions and collector’s items that you can still preorder. In a show of PlayStation camraderie, Ghost of Tsushima features Horizon Forbidden West crossover content, and if you’re looking for some assistance, here’s how you can complete the newly-added Forbidden Shrine and score some themed armor in the process.

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Splinter Is Playable In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

When you’ve got an entire army of ninjas, mutants, and alien threats from Dimension X looking to take over New York City, four color-coded brothers skilled in martial arts may not be enough to save the day. Fortunately, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is bulking up its roster, as the turtles’ sensei Master Splinter will be a playable character in the game.

In an update on the PS Blog, Tribute Games marketing manager Eric Lafontaine described how Splinter’s inclusion was a chance for the TMNT mentor to show off his own set of formidable skills.

“In our youth, we all imagined Splinter was a capable combatant,” Lafontaine said. “However, as much on television in the original animated series as in the early licensed video games, rarely did we see the master show off his skills–and this scarcity quite likely charged Splinter’s mysticism.”

Unlike the Ninja Turtles gang, Splinter is designed to be a little bit calmer and collected in his movements, fluidly chaining together attacks using his rat-like physiology, martial arts prowess, and his cane. Using those skills, Splinter sets up windows of opportunity that allow him to dish out punishing combos, which are further enhanced by a unique ranged magical charge attack.

Splinter’s design and attack animation–which is also based on his look from the original 1987 animated series–even references the opening credits of the cartoon for a brutal series of strikes using his entire body as a lethal weapon.

In addition to Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello, and Michelangelo, April O’Neil will also be a playable character in the upcoming beat-’em-up game. Interestingly, April is also showing off her journalistic talents in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, where her mic skills make her a force to be reckoned with.

Shredder–the best character in all of TMNT and who even has a canonical victory over Batman–sadly isn’t a playable character. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is scheduled to launch for Switch, PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC in 2022.

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