Star Wars: Squadrons - What To Know Before You Start
Star Wars: Squadrons puts you in the flight suit of starfighter pilots in the galaxy far, far away. While Star Wars has seen its share of flight games, this one is a unique blend of action and sim--as if you mashed up the quick pace of Rogue Squadron with the fine-tuned starfighter control of X-Wing and TIE Fighter. Being one of the top pilots in the galaxy will take practice, so to help get you started, we've compiled some important things you should know before you get started. Read our Star Wars: Squadrons buying guide for more details.
Play The Full Campaign: Star Wars: Squadrons lets you jump right into multiplayer after completing the prologue, but that's not advisable. Instead, you should instead stick with the campaign for at least a little longer, because the story stages continue to teach you important functions of your fighter like toggling lock-ons, choosing target groups, boosting, and drifting. You could always learn those in the heat of battle against other live players, but the campaign tutorials introduce them in a more controlled environment so you can get a hang of the basics.
Don't Play Immersive (At First): Similarly, Immersive Mode is tough to use when you're first getting used to your spacecraft. The ship's onboard control panel is designed to give you all the relevant information, but additional game HUD elements make their functions clearer. It's a very cool feature once you've developed your space-legs, but just give it some time and learn the layout of your ships first.
Take an in-depth look at Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit
Nintendo has just released a brand new trailer for Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, which gives us lots more information on the different modes featured, including Grand Prix, time trial, and custom race. Grand Prix is the primary mode, and includes fun themes and many items fans will be familiar with, such as the dastardly blue shell.
We also got a good look at how you create your tracks. Set up for the game is very easy, you place the four gates down anywhere you please, then drive through the gates in numerical order to set up your track. This setup process will lead to some great creativity among players as your route can be any shape you can imagine.
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is coming to Nintendo Switch on October 16 and is priced at $99.99 / £99.99 for a single kart, or a double pack is available in the UK for £209.99, this pack includes real-life Mario and Luigi Cap. Have you tried Mario Kart Tour on mobile? Check out our Mario Kart Tour challenges guide if you would like more information.
Review: The Long Dark – Just Like Real Life, Nature Is Your Enemy Here
Playing The Long Dark made us feel cold. Sure, the longer nights are slowly drawing in, but this ambitious port of Hinterlands’ 2017 survival hit exudes such a frosty atmosphere that we were reaching for the blankets. The stylised visuals, muted use of colour and the sheer pitch-black oppression of the nights spent in this hostile world almost make it seep out of the console. Or maybe it’s you seeping into it. Pretty difficult to tell in the dark.
The game’s core mode is the aptly-named Survival, which pitches you into The Long Dark’s post-apocalyptic environment with not much else besides your wits and a drastically declining set of gauges measuring your temperature, hunger, thirst and other things that make you die if you don’t have them. Moving around in first-person, you’ll need to forage and hunt for food and water, harvest wood and other fire-starting supplies, evade dangerous wildlife and generally try to avoid pushing up the daisies.
In this mode, though, that’s the only way the story ends – it’s about seeing how long you can last in the wilderness rather than reaching any kind of happy ending. You won’t be saving any princesses in this mode – surviving another night in the perishing cold is the only reward for your ceaseless toil. Items and objects move around in each game instance, too (though the maps don’t change), so you’ll never survive the same winter twice. Plenty of difficulty settings let you ease your way in, but no matter which one you pick you’ll find yourself a hefty challenge.
Control-wise it’s all very much adequate, though far from accessible in some ways – using any kind of projectile, all the way down to a lonely pebble, is an exercise in wildly varying aim; it’ll take you a good few throws of said tiny rocks in order to learn exactly how your stone is going to sail through the air and hopefully bonk a poor little bunny rabbit on the head. It’s a steep learning curve, and the game – and nature itself – really doesn’t want you to live. Wolves and bears are one thing (well, two) but it’s the onset of the jet-black night that will really be the reckoning of many survivors. It’s not just “dark”, it’s blacker than the blackest black, times infinity. And if you’re out of supplies – no matches or fuel for a fire – you’re going to have a bad time.
For fans of endings, there are a couple of other modes on offer that change up the experience; the inclusion of an episodic story mode is a welcome touch, acting almost like an extended tutorial for the main-attraction Survival mode, but it still lets you off the leash with plenty of exploration. Unfortunately, we thought the story itself felt a little generic and poorly written; the dialogue is certainly well-performed, but it’s nothing you won’t have heard before a thousand times. Characters interact in clichés, but it’s testament to The Long Dark’s impressive atmosphere that you’ll still find yourself invested in the story’s outcome.
For gamers who want a more guided experience, this “Wintermute” campaign mode is a good shout. If it’s a similarly guided but much more challenging experience you’re after, the Challenge mode is probably what you’re wanting. A series of nightmarish scenarios stack the odds against you, and your goals vary in each of them. Whether you’re ascending to the map’s highest point, or facing off with a brutal foe, you’ll have your work cut out for you.
In any case, the transition to the Switch is largely a strong one – the game runs brilliantly, with what feels like a consistent 30fps framerate, but visual sacrifices were, naturally, thoroughly necessary to achieve this. Visually it’s a huge step down from its original form, but thanks to its stylised graphics, this isn’t really a huge problem. It’s more noticeably rough around the edges in docked mode, but in handheld, it’s pretty good. Some extremely blurred textures will jar you at times, but mostly the graphic novel-ish aesthetic holds up rather well even with these technological limitations.
There are some other niggles, too. We found that the UI could occasionally be irritatingly vague, where a button hold was required rather than a tap, and picking up small objects from the ground can be a bit finicky using both the analogue sticks and gyro controls, but you’ll pick these skills up relatively quickly. The Long Dark requires perseverance to learn all its many, many systems – more than we can realistically detail here – and the occasionally finicky controls can inadvertently enhance your sense of helplessness.
Conclusion
The Long Dark is an onerous experience, but a memorably and powerfully atmospheric one. Its Survival mode stands out as something of a singular achievement on the Switch – and one we’d urge you to try if you don’t mind freezing to death more than a few times before you’ve got a grip on how to last a couple of nights. It’s difficult to call it outright fun given its sheer hostility, but it’s certainly absorbing and at times downright terrifying game. Just like real life, nature is the real enemy.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 10-04-2020, 09:48 AM - Forum: Lounge
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NHL 94 Comes As An NHL 21 Preorder Bonus
Publisher EA Sports has announced a new preorder bonus for those who buy NHL 21 early on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One: a throwback to NHL 94 that will be available on October 30.
NHL 94 Rewind is a retro-style throwback to the 1994 NHL title. It includes today's teams and rosters, but with the controls and visuals from NHL 94. Instead of the realistic style of modern NHL games, this throwback features 16-bit graphics with 2D sprites and more simplified gameplay mechanics.
Though NHL 21 launches on October 16 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, NHL 94 Rewind won't become available to play until October 30. It's unclear if EA plans to sell NHL 94 Rewind separately. Check out some screenshots from the game below.
[www.indiegala.com] HIGHLIGHTS: Dark Souls Remastered (55%), Tales of Zestiria (82%), Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization Deluxe (82%), TEKKEN 7 (77%), Project CARS 2 (85%), DRAGON BALL FighterZ (85%), Little Nightmares (82%), GOD EATER 3 (70%), Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (77%) & more
Two Members Of “Notorious” Video Game Piracy Group Team Xecuter Arrested
Two members of Team Xecuter – one of the world’s most “notorious videogame piracy groups” – have been arrested. This is the same enterprise infamously known for exploiting vulnerabilities in Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft video game hardware.
The United States Department of Justice revealed Max Louarn – a 48-year-old French national, and Gary Bowser – a 51-year-old Canadian national, were caught in September and now face 11 felony counts each:
“Each defendant is charged with 11 felony counts, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to circumvent technological measures and to traffic in circumvention devices, trafficking in circumvention devices, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.”
Louarn and Bowser were “leaders” of Team Xecuter. The agency also charged Yuanning Chen, a 35-year-old from China.
Court documents describe Team Xecuter as a “criminal enterprise” comprised of over a dozen individual members worldwide. Members include developers who exploit vulnerabilities in video game consoles and design circumvention devices. There are also website designers who create pages to promote the devices, suppliers, and resellers that distribute them.
Members of Nintendo Life have done just that below, and we’d love for you to join in via our poll and comment sections. Enjoy!
Jon Cartwright, video producer
Help. The one thing stopping me from playing too much Super Mario Bros. 35 is work… and now it’s the weekend. If my family ask, tell them I’m ok and if March asks, tell it I’m not home. Can we just skip that month? I won’t be a happy boy when this thing gets delisted!
Other than going through an existential crisis over Mario, I’m planning to revisit my Animal Crossing town! I’ve left the poor folks abandoned for a little over a month and I’m a little worried about the number of weeds I’ll need to pluck. I’m sorry Isabelle.
Gavin Lane, features editor
I managed to come first place in Super Mario Bros. 35 in my first evening playing it. Obviously, the game has nothing else to offer now, so I’ll probably go back to Rogue Legacy. I’ll also be growing pumpkins in Animal Crossing, although I don’t really care about all the Halloween swag – I’m more excited about completing my Critterpedia. I’m getting close, and now I’ve paid off my house I’m enjoying the quiet life just pottering around, fishing and breeding flowers. Good game.
Ryan Craddock, news editor
I’m now about 60 stars into Super Mario Galaxy as part of the Super Mario 3D All-Stars release and I’m really enjoying my time with it. Super Mario Sunshine will always tickle my nostalgia bone the most, but even I can’t deny that Galaxy is a much more polished experience throughout – and the HD shine is glorious, too.
I’ve also been enjoying the odd round of Super Mario Bros. 35 – I actually shared a guide with tips for getting that elusive win if anyone’s interested. I prefer this over Tetris 99, simply because I feel like I’m actually decent enough at Mario platforming to stand a chance; other players can still be monsters, but I tend to hold my own pretty well and getting to the last five-or-so players is a fun time. Have a good one!
Gonçalo Lopes, contributing writer
Time to go back to live streams with Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions‘ final route: Toho Academy. Still trying to escape Elysium in Hades between bounty hunting missions in Rebel Galaxy: Outlaw. My rusty NES platforming skills will be tested this weekend with intense rounds of Super Mario Bros. 35, while Alwa’s Legacy remains an alluring proposition.
My game of the week is Detective Case and Clown Bot in: Murder in The Hotel Lisbon. This game is quite special since it takes place in my home town and was made by local friends. Despite the late conversion, this is my first time experiencing it. Pure late ’80s / early ’90s bliss.
Austin Voigt, contributing writer
This weekend will be a bit of a grab bag for me, getting into the spoopy season. I plan to kick around in all of the creppy-themed levels of every game I have – as well as games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Luigi’s Mansion 3, which are just automatically Halloween-themed. I might do some Korok hunting in the Akkala region, finish up Autumn Mountain in Paper Mario: The Origami King, head back to Lavender Town in Let’s Go: Pikachu, replay Big Boo’s Haunt in Super Mario 64, and I’m sure a few others thrown in the mix. Happy Halloween season!
As always, thanks for reading! Make sure to leave a vote in the poll above and a comment below with your gaming choices over the next few days…
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 10-04-2020, 02:12 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Destiny 2: Where Is Xur This Week? Exotic Items / Location Guide (Oct. 2-6)
The release of Destiny 2's Beyond Light expansion is fast approaching, with only a month left to finish off all the Triumphs and content that will be vaulted in November. It's a good time to visit Xur yet again to grab some additional Exotics to help you wrap everything up. Head to Io, to the Giant Scar area to find Xur this week. For his weapon, Xur is offering Hard Light. Hunters can pick up the Ophidia Spathe chest armor; for Titans, there's the Mask of the Quiet One helmet; and for Warlocks, Xur has the Skull of Dire Ahamkara helmet.
Xur Location
Xur hangs out in a cave on the north end of Giant's Scar, near where Taken enemies spawn.
Use the Giant's Scar transmat zone on Io to get to Xur fast. Hop on your sparrow and head through the archway ahead, then turn toward the north end of the area. Hug the cliff wall on your left until you find a cave; inside, in the shadows, Xur awaits.
Xur Exotic Items
Hard Light, Xur's weapon this week, has been a mainstay of the Crucible in recent seasons. It recently got nerfed, but it's still a highly effective auto rifle for dropping enemies quickly--you can even get them around corners thanks to its intense ricochet. But if you're not a fan of his other options, Xur also sells an Exotic engram that will decrypt into an Exotic you don't already own. He also has the Five of Swords challenge card, which lets you enable modifiers for Nightfall Strikes.
Joy-Con drift has been an ongoing topic throughout the Switch’s life, but Nintendo is reportedly arguing it “isn’t a real problem” and “hasn’t caused anyone any inconvenience”. Ouch!
This is all according to the US law firm Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith (CSK&D), who is now supposedly calling on consumers who previously contacted them (via email), to provide video accounts detailing how Joy-Con drift has personally impacted their experience with the Nintendo Switch.
“Thank you for contacting our law firm about the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Drift litigation. We are working on putting together a montage of video clips from Nintendo Switch owners such as yourself as a way to give voice to the joy-con drift issues you’ve experienced. This will be helpful to us in responding to Nintendo’s arguments about how this isn’t a real problem or hasn’t caused anyone any inconvenience.
“In an effort to humanize and demonstrate these issues and their impact on consumers, it would be helpful to our prosecution of the case if you would submit a short (90 seconds or less) video to us describing your experience with the Joy-Con drift on your controllers.”
It’s all tied to the firm filing a class-action lawsuit against Nintendo in July 2019, for “claims relating to alleged defects” in Switch controllers, and accusing the video game giant of unfair and deceptive practices.
CSK&D wants all video accounts by 16th October and plans to share them with Nintendo’s attorneys and representatives.
Have you experienced Joy-Con drift? Tell us down below.
Best Programming Languages to Start Freelancing in 2020
The demand for programming talent has steadily increased in the preceding decades.
In fact, there never has been a better time to start learning to code. Why? Because you (yes, YOU!) can sell your skills for top dollars—the average freelancer earns much more than $100,000 per year (source).
Nobody denies two transformative trends:
Programming is on the rise. With the proliferation of computing into every area of our lives, it’s now more important than ever before to be able to speak the language of computers.
Freelancing is on the rise. The biggest freelancing platforms such as Upwork or Fiverr grow double-digit year after year. They are out to disrupt the organization of the world’s talents—and it looks like they’re succeeding.
If you combine these trends, you end up with one of the greatest opportunities of our times: freelance development—the act of selling your programming services to a global client base.
Do you want to develop the skills of a well-rounded Python professional—while getting paid in the process? Become a Python freelancer and order your book Leaving the Rat Race with Python on Amazon (Kindle/Print)!
But there are many fundamentally different programming languages, which language to learn? What’s the best language with the highest potential and the biggest growth opportunities?
This article answers this question for you. But instead of going over the different programming languages, I’ll go over the different end-goals you want to achieve. The programming languages will then naturally emerge from your overall goals as a programmer. You should decide on your life goals first and not on the technologies. Otherwise, you end up confused, unmotivated, and unable to see the big picture.
Before you start diving into the details, here’s a quick tabular overview:
Title
Best Programming Languages
Yearly Income (Average US)
Web Developer
JavaScript + HTML + CSS + SQL
$78,088
Mobile Developer Android
Java
$126,154
Mobile Developer Apple
Swift
$123,263
Back End Developer
Python + Django + Flask
$127,913
Front End Developer
JavaScript + HTML + CSS
$109,742
Full-Stack Engineer
Python + JavaScript + HTML + CSS + SQL
$112,098
Data Scientist
Python + Matplotlib + Pandas + NumPy + Dash
$122,700
Machine Learning Engineer
Python + NumPy + Scikit-Learn + TensorFlow
$145,734
Let’s dive into the different freelance developer career choices for maximum success!
Web Developer? JavaScript + HTML + CSS + SQL
Do you want to become a web developer? The most common four programming languages you must learn are JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and SQL. Have a look at the most popular programming languages used by the largest websites in the world: Google, Facebook, and YouTube. They all use JavaScript and HTML as front-end technologies. In the back-end, there are different choices—but a proficient understanding of SQL is a must.
The average salary for a web developer is $78,088 per year in the US:
Do you want to become a mobile developer for Apple apps? The best programming language is Swift which is Apple’s own creation. I’d generally not recommend to lock in your knowledge to a single company but if you’re really committed, it can be a great way to differentiate your skills.
The average salary of a mobile app developer in the US is $123,263.
No online business can thrive without a scalable back-end. The servers must run properly and serve a varying number of users. Becoming a back end developer is not the most popular choice—because many people want to “see” the applications they’re coding. This makes back end development a great career choice: less competition and massive value for companies.
The average back end developer earns $127,913 per year in the US.
Developing beautiful, well-rounded front-ends of modern web applications is fun and a prestigious activity that will usually be valued very highly by clients that hire you as a front end freelance developer. The standard languages in front end development are, of course, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. You must master these languages above everything else! And if you do, you’ll build yourself a powerful skill on which you can base your whole career.
The average front end developer earns $109,742 per year in the US.
The most advanced coders in web development are called “full stack engineers”. They have experience in front end and back end development. They know different technologies through years of experience and practice. They have honed their skills to a very high level. To become a full-stack engineer, your best programming language choice is JavaScript, HTML, CSS for the front end and Python and SQL for the back end. But it doesn’t stop there—much more languages must be learned as you go along and move beyond average full-stack programming level.
The average full-stack engineer earns healthy $112,098 per year in the US.
Do you want to join the ranks of data scientists—often being called “the sexiest professions in the 21st century”? Your best shot is Python and its great libraries: Matplotlib, Pandas, NumPy, and Dash. A great starting point is our book “Coffee Break NumPy”—check it out if you want to become a skilled data scientist with attractive pay and plenty of freelancing opportunities in the years to come!
The average data scientist earns a staggering $122,700 per year in the US. If you become a data engineer (next level), you’ll even reach an average earning level of $130,000.
The highest earning potential as a freelance developer comes with the title “Machine Learning Engineer”. As such a developer, you must analyze and create high-performing machine learning models. It’s vital that you understand the background maths and concepts. The most popular programming languages as a machine learning engineer are Python and its powerful libraries NumPy, Scikit-Learn, and TensorFlow.
The average earnings as a machine learning engineer is $145,734 per year in the US. And this is average! It’s hard to find anything better.
To become successful in coding, you need to get out there and solve real problems for real people. That’s how you can become a six-figure earner easily. And that’s how you polish the skills you really need in practice. After all, what’s the use of learning theory that nobody ever needs?
Practice projects is how you sharpen your saw in coding!
Do you want to become a code master by focusing on practical code projects that actually earn you money and solve problems for people?
Then become a Python freelance developer! It’s the best way of approaching the task of improving your Python skills—even if you are a complete beginner.
