Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection is Now Available on Steam and is 10% off!*

In a world where magic and technology exist side by side, vampire princess Alwen must reclaim her ancestral castle and her magic alongside her unlikely ally, treasure hunter Ragna Valentine. They may make for an odd pair, but when they combine their talents, the sky’s the limit!

*Offer ends November 7 at 10AM Pacific Time

Nintendo turns Black Friday into Legendary Friday

With Black Friday quickly approaching, Nintendo is offering a variety of products to make holiday shopping a little bit easier and a lot more fun for everyone. These deals include two items that will make it easier for people of all ages and interests to get in on the fun and adventure of The Legend of Zelda series this holiday season.

The first is a Link green Nintendo 2DS system with bright orange buttons that comes pre-installed with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D game at a suggested retail price of only $79.99. This is ideal for young people who want to be introduced to one of the best games in The Legend of Zelda series on a durable and accessible portable system. The second is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Explorer’s Edition, a bundle that includes the critically acclaimed and award-winning Nintendo Switch game, a 100-page explorer’s guide and a two-sided map at a suggested retail price of $59.99.* The included guide and map are great for people new to the series, as well as people who haven’t yet had the opportunity to dive into the massive adventure.

But this isn’t all Nintendo is offering on Black Friday. In addition to these legendary deals, many other systems and bundles are currently in stores. These include a Nintendo Switch bundle that comes with the system, a download code for the Super Mario Odyssey game, Mario-themed red Joy-Con controllers and a special carrying case at a suggested retail price of $379.99.

“Between Nintendo Switch, Super NES Classic Edition, all the systems in the Nintendo 3DS family and all of the fun games available for these systems, shoppers will have multiple options for their wish lists this year,” said Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Our Black Friday deals are a great value for people looking to pick up gifts for the Nintendo fans in their lives.”

Other systems and bundles that will be available in stores this holiday include:

• For fans of Mario: A white-and-red Nintendo 2DS system pre-loaded with the New Super Mario Bros. 2 game at a suggested retail price of $79.99 (now available).
• For fans of cool hardware: A white-and-orange New Nintendo 2DS XL system at a suggested retail price of $149.99 (now available).
• For fans of Pokémon: A Poké Ball Edition New Nintendo 2DS XL system at a suggested retail price of $159.99 (launches Nov. 3).
• For fans of exploration: A special edition of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 that includes a sound selection CD, a special metal game case and a 220-page hard-bound art book at a suggested retail price of $99.99. A Nintendo Switch Pro Controller themed around Xenoblade Chronicles 2 will be available at a suggested retail price of $99.99 (both launch Dec. 1).

To check out all the offerings from Nintendo this holiday season, visit Nintendo’s holiday gift guide at https://happyholidays.nintendo.com/.

Remember that Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo 3DS family of systems feature parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about other features, visit http://www.nintendo.com/switch/ or http://www.nintendo.com/3ds.

* The Expansion Pass, which is composed of The Master Trials and The Champion’s Ballad DLC, is not included as part of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Explorer’s Edition.

Game Rated:

Many of gaming’s most compelling stories come from those who’ve helped to create our favorite Xbox One games. In our Inside Xbox One X Enhanced series, these creators will share the behind-the-scenes accounts of the work involved in enhancing these epic games for Xbox One X, how they’ve helped chart the course of the world’s most powerful console, and what that means for the future of gaming. Today, we’ll be chatting with Respawn Entertainment’s Drew McCoy, Lead Producer on the action-packed shooter Titanfall 2.

What specifically is your development team doing to enhance Titanfall 2 for Xbox One X?

We have increased the rendering details and dynamic resolution cap of Titanfall 2 on X1X. This means the game will always output a 4K signal, but dynamically alter the resolution based on GPU load to ensure smooth framerates. Additionally, we have brought over from the PC version of Titanfall 2 Dynamic Superscaling for times when even full 2160p doesn’t push the X1X GPU to 100% utilization. Players will benefit from these enhancements whether they are enjoying our single player campaign or playing online. The characters you’ll meet and environments you’ll battle through will be rich with new detail and the epic mayhem of a multiplayer match will run smoothly even with dozens of grunts, Pilots, and Titans going at it in a match of Attrition.

How do these enhancements impact the gaming experience?

Titanfall 2 on X1X is a substantially clearer/sharper image presentation. Players will notice lots of little details in the world and it maintains the fluid 60 fps framerate needed for smooth gameplay more often so you won’t see any frame rate drops even with a bunch of 20 foot Titans battling it out at once.

Why did your development team choose to focus on these enhancement areas?

Gameplay is the focus of any Titanfall game, so hitting our target framerate while maintaining the clearest image possible were the goals. Our games always need to FEEL great so with all enhancements we make sure that Titanfall feel that is unique to us stays true.

How do you expect fans of Titanfall 2 will respond to seeing/playing it on Xbox One X with these enhancements?

We think they’ll love them! Whether they are enjoying the enhanced visuals while traversing the epic single player campaign or in the middle of a chaotic battle in Attrition, they will notice new details that make it feel like they are seeing it with new eyes. And there isn’t any other game that can replicate the smooth and frenetic gameplay of Titanfall 2, and so now playing with more stable framerates at 4K turns it into a sublime experience.

How has the process been to get the game up and running on Xbox One X?

Extremely easy! Being a part of the Xbox One family means it was a matter of hours/days to get a build up and running, as opposed to months/years for an entirely new platform.

What enhancement are you most excited about leveraging for Titanfall 2 on Xbox One X?

We’re pretty excited to be taking advantage of Dynamic Superscaling, which ensures 100% GPU utilization at all times. It is a pretty ingenious feature to allow a game that is so dynamic like Titanfall 2 to always look its best. Players can be sure that no matter what they are doing in the game, the Xbox One X is running on all cylinders to make Titanfall 2 run and look amazing.

What does 4K and HDR mean for your game, games in the future, and development at your studio?

Thinking about 4K/HDR really changes how you approach content creation, but it takes time to really get the most out of everything. We want players to be immersed in the worlds we create and this new layer of fidelity will allows developers to craft spaces that players will get lost in.  I think this first batch of titles is only scratching the surface of what will be possible in the future and I can’t wait to see what everyone does!

Thanks to Drew for taking the time to chat with us about Xbox One X Enhanced. We’ll be bringing you more interviews with more developers in the future, so stay tuned to Xbox Wire!

Team Rocket boss Giovanni – who appeared way back in Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue – will appear in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon, it has been revealed today.

Giovanni has assembled a team of bosses from past games in the series, dubbed Team Rainbow Rocket. These include Ghetsis of Team Plasma and Lysandre of Team Flare, amongst others. What this new team of bad guys is up to is anyone’s guess.

That’s not the only new piece of information revealed today. It has also been confirmed that classic Legendary monsters will be included in the game, such as Mewtwo, Ho-Oh and Lugia. By travelling through an Ultra Wormhole you can encounter these famous beasts and catch them, if you’re skilled enough. Every Legendary Pokémon will be up for grabs.

We’ve also got information on the Battle Agency:

The Battle Agency is a new facility in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon where players can easily rent powerful Pokémon for battling. When players don sunglasses and become an agent at this facility, they can take part in Single Battles using rental Pokémon. They’ll have three such Pokémon to command as they try to defeat the three Pokémon in their opponent’s team. The goal: try to win their way to being the best of all the agents!  As players progress through battles, they can receive cool items such as Gold Bottle Caps. The variety of Pokémon that can be rented for these battles increases as players mingle with other players locally or on the internet. By connecting with strong Trainers, players will be able to rent powerful Pokémon to use in battle.

And Totem Stickers:   

In Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon, players will be able to collect stickers called Totem Stickers, which are located all around the Alola region. Players will be able to get huge totem-like Pokémon for their teams based on how many stickers they have collected. The totem-like Pokémon that players can obtain differ based on whether they are playing Pokémon Ultra Sun or Pokémon Ultra Moon.

Finally, the QR Scanner will return:   

Players will be able to use the Island Scan to encounter Pokémon that did not appear in Pokémon Sun or Pokémon Moon, such as Charmander, Grovyle, Greninja and more.

That’s a lot of info to digest – are you even more excited about this game now?

It’s safe to say that Super Mario Odyssey has been a hit so far, both critically and commercially. It’s been clocking up impressive sales in all territories, and now Nintendo of America has confirmed a notable landmark for the US market.

In its first five days on sale Odyssey sold over 1.1 million units in the US, making it the fastest selling US launch in the Super Mario franchise – its early momentum has beaten New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which is impressive when you think back to how hot that game was.

The press release also reiterates that Nintendo is ramping up Switch hardware supplies for the Holiday season, and Reggie Fils-Aime is quoted as saying the following.

The public continues to respond positively to Mario’s latest adventure. We’re also seeing sales momentum for Nintendo Switch thanks to an ever-growing catalog of games from large publishers and indie developers.

Were you one of the early adopters of Super Mario Odyssey on the Switch?

Save 50% on Blood Bowl 2 as part of this week’s Weekend Deal*!

Blood Bowl 2 smashes Warhammer and American football together, in an explosive cocktail of turn-based strategy, humour and brutality, adapted from Games Workshop’s famous boardgame.

Also, be sure to check out brand-new DLC content, including new playable races releasing today!

*Offer ends Monday at 10AM Pacific Time

This week at Bungie, we announced “Curse of Osiris.”

Our 2017 World Tour isn’t over yet. At Paris Games Week, we announced your next adventure in Destiny 2. If you missed the trailer, check out the mysteries that await.

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We know you have a lot of questions about what you saw. Osiris has that effect on even his most devout Followers. We have answers coming soon.

As promised at TwitchCon, there will be three Bungie livestreams in November. We’ll use them to unpack more of what you’ll find in Expansion One.

Curse of Osiris – Stream One – New Stories to Tell

11AM Pacific, Wednesday, November 15

Learn about the places you’ll go, the characters you’ll meet, and the enemies you’ll fight.

Curse of Osiris – Stream Two – New Ways to Play

11AM Pacific, Tuesday, November 21

Watch us preview some of the new activities that will challenge you and your Fireteam.

Curse of Osiris – Stream Three – New Gear to Earn

11AM Pacific, Wednesday, November 29

Inspect the new inventories and see it all in action on a brand new Crucible map.

Many members of the Bungie development team will be in the hot seats to tell you all about what they’ve been working on. We hope you’ll join us to be a part of the moment and sound off in chat.

Choosing Sides

You’re about to be called again to declare your loyalty during another week of Faction Rallies. If you are a new player who missed the first event, this will be an opportunity for you to define your character, join a movement, and earn some awesome gear. From November 7 until November 13, follow the call to action from your chosen leader to earn reward packages full of armor, weapons, and more. Your efforts in game will determine which faction is crowned the winner and given the right to sell their weapon as an additional reward.

Last time, Dead Orbit won the day. Can a new faction unseat them and become champions? Or will they defend their title and create a dynasty that will last forever?

Tim Williams: During the first Faction Rallies, we had a chance to learn a lot about how the activities motivated gameplay. We looked at the time invested compared to the rewards and made the following adjustments:

Faction Rallies

• Strikes now reward faction tokens at a range of 5 to 9 faction tokens per completion (up from 3 to 7) 
• • Nightfall now rewards 10 to 18 faction tokens on first completion per character 
• Completing Heroic Public Events now rewards 5 faction tokens (down from 8)
• Destroying enemy resources no longer rewards faction tokens
• • Opening Lost Sector Chests now rewards 3 faction tokens for each fireteam member

Strikes should feel more worthy of the time you invest in them. We noticed that players felt Lost Sectors were useful, but disliked the fact that they couldn’t enjoy them with a fireteam, so we moved the faction tokens from the destructible items to the chest at the end of the activity. The destructibles will still be featured as a daily milestone and are still available to help your fireteam clear out the Lost Sector.

We’re all excited to see which faction the players will help to win this faction rally. We’ll be watching and looking to improve the Faction Rallies over time, so please keep the feedback coming!

In addition to the changes Tim talked about, we also added some new weapons for you to obtain from your faction of choice. Here is a look at what we added to the packages, and what each side has to offer if they emerge victorious.

New Monarchy Weapons

Future War Cult Weapons

Dead Orbit Weapons

The winning faction – and ONLY the winning faction – will sell the weapon they’ve selected to lure you into their ranks. Aside from all the gear you stand to earn, this is what you’re fighting for.

New Monarchy Sword

Future War Cult Fusion Rifle

Dead Orbit Grenade Launcher

Depending on who emerges the victor, you’ll be able to claim one of these rewards during the week following the ritual. If you pledged loyalty to the winner, you can pick it up for 1,000 Glimmer. For everyone else, it’s 50,000 Glimmer. That’s the price for disloyalty in the Tower.

Good luck, and may the best faction win!

Good Will Hunting

The Bungie Bounty is back. This time, we’ll be playing on Xbox One. Another brave soul has volunteered to host the Bungie team on their own stream. SheSnaps will be the target. Match with her in Quickplay and win during the time indicated below to claim your emblem.

When:  November 3rd, 2017

6:00–8:00 p.m. (Pacific)

Playlist: Quickplay

Console: XB1

SneSnaps won’t be going it alone. We have an all-Bungie fireteam backing her up. 

This will not be a reveal stream like the ones we talked about above. We’ll just be confronting the community in the Crucible and giving out emblems to anyone who can beat us. Don’t expect any revelations about Osiris. We’re saving that for later.

About that emblem. Here is a peek at what the Sign of Mutual Combat looks like:

Look alive, PC Players! The next Bungie Bounty will be on your platform.

Fall Back! 

As we welcome a wider variety of machines that play our game, Destiny Player Support is working around the clock to identify issues and communicate fixes. They have more info about a patch we deployed this morning, along with the impending time change this weekend.

This is their report.

Daylight Saving Time (Fall Back):

Ritual reset times are subject to change during Daylight Savings Time. Starting Sunday November 5, Daily and Weekly Reset will occur at 1:00 AM Pacific (9:00 AM UTC). For additional information concerning ritual resets, please see this Help Article.

PC Issue updates:

Since the launch of Destiny 2 on PC, we have been investigating various reports of crashes, performance degradation, framerate hitches, and alternate issues with players on the #Help forum. The following issues have been identified, investigated, and resolved:

• SSSE3 processor requirement: Hotfix 1.0.5.1 was deployed to remove the SSSE3 processor requirement. Players experiencing crashes due to this requirement should no longer be blocked from playing Destiny 2, but these processors remain below the below minimum spec and are not officially supported.
• AMD Vega Crashes: Players experiencing crashes when attempting to play through the mission “Six” or during general Destiny 2 gameplay may resolve these issues by downloading the most recent Driver Updates. Players may experience elevated crashes if their drivers have not been updated to version 17.8 or higher, and are advised to update when possible.
• Clan Rosters: Players should now be able to interact with Clan Rosters after accepting Hotfix 1.0.6.1
• Performance Degradation: Hotfix 1.0.6.1 also addressed an issue where players would experience performance degradation over time.

For a list of all known PC issues, please see the PC Known Issue and Vital Information thread. Please note we are actively investigating reports of Destiny 2 PC frame rate stuttering after accepting Hotfix 1.0.6.1. We advise all players to use the PC Reporting Issues template when posting to the PC Support forum, as this provides valuable information to our internal teams that is used throughout our investigations.

Trials of the Nine

Following Hotfix 1.0.6, Trials of the Nine is set to return this Friday (11/3), also making its first appearance on PC. Players are required to complete the Destiny 2 Campaign, finish the Call to Arms Milestone once, have a minimum Power level of 260, and have a pre-made fireteam of four to access this event. 

For additional information concerning Trials of the Nine, please see this Help Article.

White Gloves, Gold Standards

With each new release, the #Help forum receives new players in search of assistance. Whether it be general gameplay questions or players seeking information on how to configure their network, Community Mentors are at the ready to lend a helping hand. Prior to Destiny 2 launching in September, an invitation to the Welcoming Committee was offered to players we frequently see sharing Help Articles, Bungie Communications, and troubleshooting steps within the forums. We’d like to extend a belated welcome to the following members:

• DMHSutter
• DMHTosh
• Blackfayaman
• TheCatalyyyst

With a forum badge and the ability to mark answers within the #Help forum, each member is also granted the unique “Vigilant Console” emblem within Destiny 2 as thanks for their dedication to the community.

If you see this emblem in the wild, know you’re in good company.

Set the Stage

Here are this week’s winners.

Move of the Week: Sector 13

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Honorable Mention: Warlocks are Good With Guns

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Honorable Mention: A Warlock’s Tale

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We’re excited that Trials of the Nine is coming back tomorrow. This will be the first time PC players get to experience the thrill of playing through a scorecard with the chance of unlocking the mysteries of the spire and earning sweet loot.

New things to do are on the way. You have a roadmap of when we will be sharing some more details about Curse of Osiris and what else you can expect when Season Two begins with it on December 5. In the meantime, we will continue to monitor the conversation.

<3 Cozmo