Samsung Galaxy S20 5G preorders are live with iPhone trade-in bonuses
By Christine McKee Thursday, February 20, 2020, 09:08 pm PT (12:08 am ET)
Apple iPhone users looking to make the switch to 5G can now pre-order Samsung Galaxy S20 devices with aggressive iPhone trade-in values and even free gift offers.
Samsung launches S20 5G phones
With Apple’s rumored 5G iPhone launching in September, users wanting to experience 5G regardless of operating system (subject to carrier availability) can pre-order Samsung’s new Galaxy S20 devices, including the S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra 5G, at leading retailers. Further incentivizing iOS users to make the switch to Android, Samsung is offering shoppers up to $200 in Samsung credit in addition to trade-in deals of up to $700.
Here at AppleInsider, we’ll be testing the new 5G S20 smartphones, putting them through the paces against Apple’s current iPhone offerings. But for those looking to get their hands on an S20 asap, here are the best deals on the new 5G phones.
Samsung Galaxy S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra 5G pre-orders
B&H: Get up to $200 in Samsung credit. Plus, free 2-day shipping within the contiguous U.S. and a sales tax refund in qualifying states with the Payboo Card.
Amazon: Free Galaxy Buds and Wireless Charger Duo Pad with Galaxy S20 5G devices.
Samsung: Get up to $200 Samsung credit when you pre-order select Galaxy S20 models. Plus, get up to $700 in trade-in value on iPhones.
Best Buy: Save up to $850 on the new Samsung Galaxy S20 5G, S20+ 5G or S20 Ultra 5G with pre-order, qualified activation and trade-in. Plus, get up to a $200 Samsung credit.
AppleInsider and Apple authorized resellers are also running additional exclusive savings on Apple hardware that will not only deliver the lowest prices on many of the items, but also throw in bonus discounts on AppleCare, peripherals and more. These deals are as follows:
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 02-21-2020, 04:57 AM - Forum: Lounge
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This Week At Bungie – 2/6/2020
This Week at Bungie, we’re calling in reservations.
It’s been a wild week in Destiny 2. Inotam, Oblivion’s Triune, made their grand entrance into the Sundial. Guardians descended upon Mercury, weapons in hand, eager to protect the timeline from certain annihilation. While you’ve prevented the Psions from changing history, this isn’t the last trial you’ll face – not by a longshot.
The first three Empyrean Foundation goals have been met with haste. One billion Fractaline isn’t enough for the Foundation, and the next goal is currently in reach. Your next stop: 2.2 Billion Fractaline donations.
We knew you’d rise to the challenge, but this? This is absolutely insane. Keep that Fractaline coming. We’re seeing quite a few Guardians investing in their Fractaline futures, but many hitting the donation button to quickly earn some sweet Timelost weapons.
The final triumph for the Savior Seal will be completed once the community completes the seventh stage of this event. We’re excited to see a new title in the wild. Players will also unlock the ability to pre-order the Savior Bungie Reward pin once they have completed all Triumphs for the Seal.
Now, let’s look at the calendar. We have some beats to cover that are coming up quick, with a new Season on the way in just over a month! Below, you’ll find details on Crimson Days, Destiny 2 Hotfix 2.7.1.1, and a patch note preview for Season 10.
Love is almost in the air
Have you been feeling a bit lonely lately? Lacking a partner by your side in the heat of battle? Crimson Days is on approach, bringing the perfect opportunity for you to form an unbreakable Crimson Bond with a fellow Guardian.
Crimson Doubles returns to the Crucible during the event, bringing explosive 2v2 combat to the fold. Stay close to your partner: you’ll each have heightened ability regen as long as you retain your Crimson Bond. If you stray too far away from each other, opponents will be able to see your every move. If you’d rather take your partner out for a stroll in one of Destiny 2’s PvE activities, Shaxx will offer bounties for you to complete in a two-person fireteam.
As you complete Crimson Doubles matches and bounties, you and your partner will be showered in delicious candy hearts. To sweeten the deal, Daily and Weekly bounties will offer double XP. Bright Dust will also be rewarded when completing your weekly bounties.
As you begin to stockpile Confectionary Hearts, they can be exchanged with Lord Shaxx for Crimson Days themed rewards, including two new Exotic Sparrows. Ride in tandem to show the strength of your Crimson Bond!
If this is your first Crimson Days event, or you didn’t earn enough hearts in years past, rewards from previous events will also be available to earn alongside the new Sparrows.
Additionally, spare Confectionary Hearts may be exchanged for Warmhearted Gift packages containing Glimmer, with a slight chance for legendary loot. Once you’ve collected both Sparrows and claimed the associated Triumph, an exclusive emblem will become available through Bungie Rewards.
Eververse will feature many items from previous events for Bright Dust, including two new items exclusive to Crimson Days. One new item will be available for Silver only, the Heartfelt Union Multiplayer Emote.
Here’s the emote in action:
Crimson Days will be available from February 11 to February 18, 2020.
Cutting Edge
We’re a little over a month out from the next Season of Destiny 2 and this seems like a good time to start talking about Sandbox. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be covering upcoming changes to weapons and abilities. Some changes will be PvP-centric, while others will bear more of a PvE focus.
Our first subject: Swords.
Some are sharp. Some are blunt. One lets you bend space and time to teleport through enemies. Another has projectiles that can take down foes at range. Since the launch of Destiny 2, we’ve been seeing feedback on general functionality and the team has been kicking around ideas on how to make things a bit more enticing.
After some brainstorming and development time, Swords are receiving a sort of tableflip when it comes to light attacks, heavy attacks, and guarding. While you’ll still rip and tear through opponents, as you would expect from a Sword, most of what you know needs to be unlearned. The blades have been rebalanced, and a new energy meter is making its way to swords. Below, you’ll find a full rundown from our development team.
Dev Team: Swords are getting a little more love this Season. While Swords have been a staple of Destiny ever since their introduction in The Taken King, we felt they were due for an update both to freshen them up, but also to allow us more room to work with them in later releases.
Sword Energy
Swords now have their own reserve of energy that recharges naturally on its own, and is not to be confused with ammo capacity. This energy will overtake your melee slot while you’re wielding a sword and is spent on various actions.
Guarding
Guarding now uses sword energy instead of consuming ammo. Different guards have different consumption rates, damage resistance and behaviors, so be sure to experiment and find a guard type you like. You’ll still need at least one ammo to begin guarding, though.
Back during Season of the Drifter, the Stronghold exotic for Titans was introduced, allowing them to guard with relative impunity and opening up a more interesting opportunities for swords to shine in a variety of content which caused us to take another look at the guard function itself. Although the guard function has always existed, it was never really considered worth the cost. With this change, we hope that players will use their guard intelligently to protect themselves instead of it being an almost unused button. Rest easy, Stronghold has also been modified to still allow Titans a unique guarding experience.
Light Attacks
Grounded light attacks for all Swords will now loop for an infinite combo, and all Swords can cleave.
While the basic three hit combo is quite a staple of melee weapons in many games – In a shooter this leaves the player extremely open to enemies. By letting the light attacks loop, we also push them and the heavy attacks apart further. Cleaving on light attacks was previously only on the Aggressive Swords, but we opted to add it to the rest of them for more hack ‘n slash.
Heavy Attacks
Heavy attacks now consume Sword energy. While you are always able to perform a heavy attack, the attack is stronger when you have full energy, and weaker when you don’t.
A lot of swordplay in many situations simply boiled down to endlessly mashing the heavy attack button instead of mixing up attacks which wasn’t quite the most interesting experience. Do note that aerial heavy attacks as a general rule do not consume Sword energy, but that can vary based on the Sword.
Shield Bypass
A portion of most Sword attacks can partially bypass elemental shields.
We added this to give Swords a little bit of a personality difference from shotguns who share a very similar role in combat as powerful CQC weapons.
In general, Swords have also had some of the damage amounts for different attacks changed, and the various Sword perks have been adjusted. So you’ll want to experiment a bit after the changes hit. We do hope you’ll enjoy the changes.
Blinded by the Light
Hotfix after Hotfix, Destiny Player Support is here for you. Timetables, known issues, and frequently asked questions are handled with care. They approach each conversation with white gloves and gold standards.
This is their report.
CONTRIBUTING TO EMPYREAN RESTORATION
On Tuesday, the Empyrean Restoration went live. Player Support noticed that some players were confused on how to participate and contribute their Polarized Fractaline. To do so, players must complete the Bright Light quest from Saint-14. To unlock this quest, players must complete the following prerequisites:
Complete the following quests from Osiris: A Matter of Time.
Then, complete Saint-14’s quests: Tribute to the Colonies, Cornerstone, and A Guardian’s Duty.
CRIMSON DAYS AHEAD
Next week, Crimson Days returns to the Crucible. Our Help article will update on February 11, 2020, to bring you updated information about the event, including that it will end at the weekly reset on February 18.
Here are a few known issues about the event:
Players will be unable to accept Lord Shaxx’s “Fire of the Crimson Days” emblem if they already have this emblem in their inventory. Deleting the emblem will allow them to accept the new one and complete the “Welcome to the Crimson Days” Milestone.
Players who are removed from a match and rejoin will not be able to respawn until the current round ends. These player will see “Waiting for Ally to Revive” for the remaining duration of the round.
Crimson Days bounties do not advance the Crucible Bounty Vendor Challenge.
HOTFIX 2.7.1.1 AND RESOLVED ISSUES
Next Tuesday, February 11, we will release Destiny 2 Hotfix 2.7.1.1. This update will resolve some issues currently affecting players. Here is another preview of some of the issues that will be resolved:
The Efrideet’s Gift Triumph will retroactivity unlock for players who turn in 50 Iron Banner packages in Season of the Dawn.
The Get Closer pursuit will no longer have its progress reset when resetting Infamy. This is retroactive and will auto-complete for any player who has already been above Mythic rank this season.
A Season 9 Iron Banner Triumph has been added that tracks purchased packages from Lord Saladin. This is also retroactive.
Additionally, here’s the timeline for the Destiny 2 Hotfix 2.7.1.1 release on Tuesday:
8:00 AM PST (1600 UTC): Destiny 2 maintenance will begin. Players may experience sign-on issues during maintenance.
8:45 AM (1645 UTC): Players will be removed from activities and will be unable to log in until 9 AM.
9:00 AM (1700 UTC): Destiny 2 Hotfix 2.7.1.1 will be released and players will be able to log in.
10:00 AM (1900 UTC): Destiny 2 maintenance will end.
CURRENT KNOWN ISSUES
While we continue investigating various known issues, here is a list of the latest issues that were reported to us in our #Help Forum:
Players are continuing to report increased Tower load times after Update 2.7.1.
The Playin’ the Odds emblem doesn’t drop and cannot be reacquired from Collections. While we investigate, the only way to receive this emblem right now is to reset your Infamy rank three times in one Season.
In the Bright Future quest, Orbs of Light that are collected sometimes are not accurately reflected in the quest’s progress. Some players have reported that deleting or claiming a bounty may help with progression issues.
For a full list of emergent issues in Destiny 2, players can review our Known Issues article. Players who observe other issues should report them to our #Help forum.
Variety
Over the years, there have been quite a few “metas” in Destiny 2. Different Legendary weapons will take the spotlight from time to time, sometimes usurped by a truly Exotic underdog. This week, our winner brings a montage using every exotic in the game.
Winners will find their new MotW-themed emblem in their collections within the next year or so. If you have some sweet clips or a fun montage, make sure to submit it to the Community Creations page. For carnage, or a chance for a sweet emblem, apply within.
We’re almost to the weekend, but we’ll be scouting the Destiny Fashion scene for combinations worthy of an emblem. In case you missed it, we kicked off another Fashion Week on Tuesday. Only requirements: the Star Light, Star Bright emblem from the Guardians for Australia foundation effort, and a good eye for fashion.
Reply to this tweet with a picture of your Guardian and the emblem equipped. If we retweet you, the Levante’s Prize emblem will be granted to you within a week. Here’s a quick example of a recent winner:
I can’t wait to see what combinations you cook up. Have a great weekend, and we’ll see you next time.
The Way of the Samurai is forged in battle! Help the swordsmith Dojima pay off his debt after his beautiful daughter is taken as collateral by crafting swords by day and exploring mysterious, twisting dungeons for valuable materials at night.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 02-21-2020, 04:56 AM - Forum: Lounge
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ALT.CTRL.GDC Showcase: Milk! That! Cow!
The 2020 Game Developers Conference will feature an exhibition called Alt.Ctrl.GDC dedicated to games that use alternative control schemes and interactions. Gamasutra will be talking to the developers of each of the games that have been selected for the showcase.
Milk! That! Cow!is a ridiculous cow-milking showdown where players need to pull udders to tap buttons, filling up a bucket which another player must collect the milk in. Whoever can drink the most milk without spilling it (or cracking up at the absurd control scheme) will come out on top.
Gamasutra sat down with Gary O’Reilly, a member of the team that put together this game of competitive cow milking, to talk about the difficulties of making an udder controller, inspirations from Japanese game shows, and the dangers of overzealous milkers.
We are a team of 5, with Hazel and Patrick on Art, Eoin and Sam on Tech, Gary on Production and Tech, and all of us collaborating on the design of the game and building the controller! We’ve all been studying game design for the last four years in college.
We were all brainstorming different ideas for a game using an alternate controller for a college assignment and the idea of using cow udders came up. We thought it was a really funny idea and decided to iterate on the concept until we had the 2 vs 2 cow milking simulator gameshow.
Using the Milkinator 5000™, players hit buttons with udders to simulate milking a cow on-screen as their teammate balances a bucket on an analog stick to catch the in-game milk!
We had a couple of different ideas for how the udders would work on the controller, but settled on having buttons underneath each udder to pull them down to. There were challenges in trying to hide the buttons from the players as this caused the buttons to malfunction, but this was (eventually) fixed. We also had problems with the stick used for the bucket, as the player has to pull it back to chug the milk in-game. Some overzealous players would pull back very hard which broke the stick! We had to redo the stick for the bucket after this, ensuring it was sturdier.
Milk!That!Cow!™ was made using the game engine Unity. The controller “cabinet” is made out of wood with udders sewn from a sheet of pink material (it was originally rubber gloves, but they tore too easily). The bucket analog stick is just a decorated shot glass stuck to the end of a wooden spoon. Everything is made out of very non-traditional materials for a game controller other than the wiring itself, which we took from an old PlayStation 3 controller.
We had looked at different cheesy game show concepts and were inspired by the wacky antics of Japanese game shows.
Players are already laughing at the controller before they even play the game. Once they actually start playing, they tend to get really competitive and hammer the udders into the buttons. Getting to interact with such a physically funny game controller really adds to the overall fun and enjoyment.
It wasn’t until we took the game to Dublin Maker Festival that we noticed how fragile the first iteration of the controller actually was – kids got really competitive and ended up breaking one of the udder-buttons completely before the end of the day. We’ve since sorted that issue and rebuilt some of the controller to be more durable for the more enthusiastic player.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 02-21-2020, 04:56 AM - Forum: Lounge
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MyPaint 2.0.0 Released
MyPaint 2.0.0 was released a few days back. MyPaint is an open source natural media painting application that first started development in 2004, designed from day one to work with Wacom style tablets. The 2.0.0 release adds several new features including:
Linear compositing and spectral blending (pigment).
Layer views.
Brush strokes dependent on view rotation and view zoom.
The release also contains various different bug fixes and features. MyPaint is available for Windows and Linux with binaries available here with the Mac OS X version available on MacPorts. MyPaint is open source with the source code hosted on GitHub available under the GPL 2 open source license. You can learn more about, and see MyPaint 2 in action, in the video below.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 02-21-2020, 04:56 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Skateboarding Sim Session Is Back On Board For Xbox One
After suffering a delay in October 2019 and missing its "late November or early December" release window, developer Crea-ture Studios has provided a new tentative launch period for when Session will arrive on Xbox One. The skateboarding simulator will now launch sometime this spring, according to a developer update.
Crea-ture Studios took to Steam to give an update on Session, which is currently available in Early Access on PC (and 25% off now through February 26). The team said it's targeting a "spring" release window for Session on Xbox One, which places the launch of the skateboarding game between March 19 and June 20. Further, Crea-ture has teamed up with the "local experienced studio" Illogika to make a "dedicated team [to work] on the Xbox version" of Session.
Illogika has worked on Cuphead and the various "GO" mobile versions of popular franchises like Deus Ex GO, Hitman GO, and Lara Croft GO. The team typically provides programming and quality assurance assistance.
Cocos Creator, the free Cocos2D-x powered cross platform game engine, just released version 2.3. The 2.3 release adds more 3D functionality to the previously 2D game engine including 3D physics and particle systems, as well as other improvements such as DragonBones and Spine mount point support, an upgrade to the material system and more. Cocos Creator is available as a free download for both Mac and Windows.
After a long period of development and preparation, and after a memorable Spring Festival, Cocos Creator v2.3 is officially released. v2.3 is a very important version that officially integrates support for 3D physics, collisions, and 3D particles, and is capable of developing more types of 3D games! At the same time, the material system has been upgraded from the experimental version to the official version, which can greatly improve the expressiveness of a game. It is recommended that all developers upgrade!Please perform the necessary technical evaluation and backups before upgrading.
Major new features include:
Qutoutiao (QTT) mini game support
3D physics support(rigid body, Box/Sphere collision components, trigger and collision events, physical materials, ray detection, etc)
Stardew Valley 1.4 update out on Android, iOS to follow
By Ian Boudreau19 Feb 2020
The long-awaited 1.4 update for Stardew Valley is out now on Android, and it’ll be hitting iOS devices in the near future. If you play Stardew Valley on an Android device, chances are you already have the update; if you’re on iOS, the patch is working its way through Apple’s certification process and should be available soon.
Stardew Valley version 1.4 adds a staggering amount of content to a game that’s already plenty big. There’s now a movie theatre for the late game, which comes with its own set of features and content. There are new 14-heart events for spouses, brand new events and dialogues, new fish ponds in which to breed fish, a new system for clothes tailoring and dyeing, and much more.
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Spouses you’ve divorced will no longer attend your subsequent weddings, which I personally think is a thoughtful touch.
You can check out a full list of changes in 1.4 here, but bear in mind the mobile version of Stardew Valley doesn’t support multiplayer. It’s still a massive list of new stuff and fixes even setting multiplayer aside. The experience has been polished significantly and filled out with more stuff to do across the whole game.
New Baby Yoda Merch Is Here: Funko Pops, Build-A-Bear, Legos, And More
Baby Yoda, officially known as The Child, was the biggest sensation last holiday season, but official Baby Yoda merchandise has been hard to come by. That's changing soon, as Funko Pops, plushies, figures, and even a Build-A-Bear are releasing in the next few months. Now, even more Baby Yoda products have been revealed ahead of Toy Fair 2020 this weekend, including an absolutely adorable animatronic doll that releases this fall. Animatronic Baby Yoda is joined by action figures, new plushies, a backpack, board games, Lego sets, and more. Check out all of the new Baby Yoda products below, including our first good look at the Baby Yoda Build-A-Bear.
Baby Yoda Animatronic Edition | $60
Animatronic Baby Yoda is available this fall
Animatronic Baby Yoda is activated by touching the top of his head. He has more than 25 sound and movement reactions. Baby Yoda will laugh and coo, move his ears, open and close his eyes. When you tuck him in after a long day, he'll close his eyes for a "Force nap." As you can tell, the toy comes with a cool Mandalorian pendant. An exact release date hasn't been set, but the adorable new toy is available to pre-order for $60 and releases this fall.
The 137th GalaQuiz will be LIVE soon, win up to $100 in GalaCredit!
[www.indiegala.com] The GalaQuiz will take place in less than 15 minutes from this announcement Today's GalaQuiz[www.indiegala.com] hints are up. The theme will be First Ladies.
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