Gaming

With the immense popularity of Fallout 76 following the live-action television series, more players than ever are flocking to post-apocalyptic Appalachia. But they’re spread far and wide across multiple systems. With that in mind, is Fallout 76 crossplay?

Unfortunately, Fallout 76 does not support crossplay completely. There’s a caveat, of course, because it shouldn’t be too simple to play with your friends cross-platform, right?

You can play Fallout 76 crossplay between PC and Xbox Series X|S, but only when playing on the Game Pass version of the multiplayer wasteland adventure.

If you purchased a digital copy from the Xbox Store and your pal purchased a copy through Steam, you cannot play together.

Will the game ever receive crossplay support? There’s no telling. Microsoft is making a huge push to put its games on every platform imaginable, and that often means cross-platform support to some extent. However, the most significant blockage preventing crossplay from moving forward successfully is usually Sony.

I hope you’re ready for a little more disappointment, sadly. You cannot transfer save files between systems in Fallout 76. If you previously created a character on the PC version but went out and bought an Xbox Series S on sale, you must start an entirely new save file on the console.

At the very least, it’s an opportunity to test out a new build!

Whether you jump in-game with a friend or not, you’ll likely want to start accumulating resources for crafting and construction. Here is how to get Gold Scrap in Fallout 76! Before you boot up the game, however, why not sign up for the Insider Gaming Newsletter?

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We’re thrilled to bring you an exclusive interview with Leniese van der Merwe, the Assistant Project Director for MusicEx and Marketing Manager for Gallagher Convention Centre.

In this interview, Leniese shares exciting details about MusicEx, taking place from 26-28 July 2024 at the Gallagher Convention Centre. Discover how MusicEx is set to celebrate South African music and lifestyle with an impressive lineup of performances, workshops, and more!

Leniese provides an insider’s view on what makes this event a must-attend for all music enthusiasts. From the Main Stage in Hall 2 to the intimate Music Lounge, MusicEx offers a dynamic experience for everyone. The event will host performances from top South African artists across three days.

26 July 2024

• Main Stage: Spoegwolf, Karen Zoid, Pabi Cooper, Mafikizolo, Kamo Mphela, Francois van Coke, Prime Circle, Young Stunna.
• Music Lounge: Arno Carstens, The Soil, Sipho Hotstix Mabuse, Samthing Soweto, Kings of the Weekend.
• Workshop: Yvonne Chaka Chaka.

27 July 2024

• Main Stage: Kwesta, Shekhinah, Mi Casa, Zakes Bantwini, Cassper Nyovest, DBN Gogo, New Hero, Grimehouse, Zinah, Jesse Clegg, Thakzin.
• Music Lounge: Jesse Clegg, The Muses, Zinah, New Hero, Zolani & Feminine Force, Louise Carver, Tamara Dey & Jazz Band.
• Workshop: Yvonne Chaka Chaka.

28 July 2024

• Main Stage: Lady Zamar, Majozi, Matthew Mole, Jeremy Loops, Mango Groove, Dodo Nyoka, Mashudu, DJ Zinhle.
• Music Lounge: Sydney Ace Mnisi, Elandre, Refentse, Bunny Majaja, Nadine.
• Workshop: Willem Botha.

We’re giving away a day ticket to one lucky winner! To enter:

1. Watch the YouTube interview with Leniese van der Merwe.
2. Leave a comment on the YouTube video.
3. Come back here and comment “Done” along with your YouTube handle/name in the comments section of this article.

Open to all South African residents. The giveaway closes on 24th July.

The winner will be selected randomly and fairly and will be emailed with details on the tickets. T’s and C’s apply.

Good luck!

For those excited to attend this amazing event with all these artists under one roof for the weekend, tickets are available for purchase here:

Don’t miss out on this extraordinary celebration of South African music and lifestyle.

Get your tickets now and join us at MusicEx for an unforgettable experience!

A new report from Newzoo has revealed just how much of the world are gamers. The analysis tracked 73,000 people across 36 different markets.

The study (via VGIM) uncovered 85% of participants interact with gaming in one form or another, with 80% directly gaming. The remaining percent include people who watch gaming content, create content, or join communities around games. Based on generations, Gen Alpha and Gen Z are the most engaged, with 96% to 92% respectively branded as “game enthusiasts.”

Frankly, this revelation should come as no surprise, the gaming medium has become such a widely loved hobby, even a good portion of Baby Boomers — 50% — are playing games. In terms of genre, the favored one only changes from Gen X and Baby Boomer, with most Gens favoring adventure games while X and BBs favor puzzle games. Gen X likes puzzle games as its secondary favorite genre.

The study has proven just how far the hobby of gaming has come and how vast it is nowadays, whereas it was once considered a niche hobby for kids, people of all ages can enjoy video games, as there is really something for everyone out there.

The latest episode of VGC: The Video Game Podcast is out now.

This week, VGC’s Jordan Middler and Chris Scullion are joined by Pete Donaldson to chat about PlayStation‘s newest action figures, PlayStation Stars, and the man arrested for allegedly carrying a replica Master Sword with a 6-inch blade.

In the second half of the show, it’s a tribute to the Wii U as we look back on Nintendo‘s ill-fated console following Nintendo’s decision to end the console’s repair program.

VGC: A Video Games Podcast episodes are available weekly, hosted by VGC’s Jordan Middler, Chris Scullion and Andy Robinson, and broadcaster Pete Donaldson, featuring regular special guests from across the games industry.

You can subscribe to VGC: A Video Games Podcast now on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music and more.

Helldivers 2 players have finally received the latest ship upgrades, only to find themselves a bit underwhelmed. The new modules require between 200 to 250 rare samples for upgrades, which is a nice addition. But as usual, the community is quick to voice their opinion.

Fans think that a more impactful update would’ve been increasing the sample cap. The current cap on samples has left players wanting more. And there are discussions on forums about increasing the cap limit and how it would affect the existing mechanics.

Helldivers 2’s current sample cap is 500 Common Samples, 250 Rare Samples, and 100 Super Uranium Samples. Any samples that players get beyond these limits during their missions become useless. 

Give us this Arrowhead I beg you
byu/ItsDaFunkMonkey inHelldivers

Many dedicated players who have already unlocked all available upgrades find themselves hitting these caps quickly. This leads to a lack of motivation to continue collecting samples. 

I am the only one who thinks the caps are too small?
byu/LaSiena inHelldivers

Players have voiced their opinions on the r/Helldivers subreddit, suggesting that increasing the sample cap would provide a greater sense of progression. 

One user pointed out that having a way to spend surplus samples would keep the gameplay engaging, especially for those who have already maxed out their upgrades. 

Many players argue that raising the cap would give players more reasons to play and maintain interest and activity. But if listening to the community is what works, then there are so many different options for Arrowhead to do so.

Remove or increase samples and medals cap limit
byu/DavRLe inHelldivers

With the recent struggles that the game is facing with player count and the release of other co-op games, it’ll be interesting to see if Arrowhead changes anything.

The Helldivers 2 community has been vocal about their desire for more engaging content. An idea circulating among players is the introduction of special orders or tasks that need to be completed before purchasing new upgrades.  

Comment
byu/DavRLe from discussion
inHelldivers

Despite this, there is another side to this as some players argue that limiting the sample cap keeps the game balanced and engaging. They believe that having to work for new upgrades maintains the game’s longevity and prevents burnout. 

While the Helldivers 2 community remains active and passionate about the game, this is not reflected in the player count as the game slowly loses players. 

The game’s addictive gameplay and constantly driven narrative is a good hook, but in a competitive environment, Arrowhead needs to do more.

However, others counter that the repetitive nature of grinding for samples without any new objectives can lead to disinterest and a decline in active players.

What do you think about Helldivers 2’s future? Let us know in the comments!

NoobFeed editor Kurtis Seid writes – As far as a city builder, Republic of Pirates doesn’t reinvent or improve anything. It uses a lot of the same systems and rules from other proven games from the last decade. The main draw is the pirate theming and sailing aspect. If the idea of pirates and raiding appeals to you, you might want to try the Steam demo first. Then from there, decide if Republic of Pirates is worth the full price.

• Evercade is set to debut new editions in its Super Pocket line of handhelds
• The Atari and Technos editions will feature games from said platforms
• There’s also a limited-run of woodgrain versions of the Atari handheld

Game preservation is one of those conversation topics that can get highly charged. Whether it’s the people crowing about it being piracy or those who say “Just emulate it!”, there’s never a crowd-pleasing answer. Fortunately, some companies do offer easier, official ways to access older games without paying eye-watering second-hand prices.

Evercade is one of them, and the company has just unveiled its latest line of products with the latest Super Pocket. This handheld device has already debuted with Capcom and Taito versions, but October 2024 will see the release of even more retro versions with the Atari and Technos editions, featuring games from said platforms.

There are also wood-grain versions of the Atari edition that will be limited to a production run of only 2600, going on sale soon.

Wow, so retro

With handheld gaming devices mainly being relegated to retro emulation, we’re always glad to see more official versions on offer. And Evercade has managed to cultivate a fairly good reputation over the past few years, although some may see their 2600 limited run as a bit of a gimmick, unless that’s real wood-grain of course.

Still, with the Super Pockets being compatible with Evercade’s existing cartridges, you can take your retro game collection on the go with ease, while popping them back into your main console once you’re done.

The new Super Pocket Editions go on sale in October of 2024.

But in the meantime if you’re looking for some games you can play right now on mobile, why not take a look at our list of the best mobile games of 2024 (so far) to get yourself started?

Better yet, you can always get stuck into our other list, which features the most anticipated mobile games of the year. So whatever your genre, there’s sure to be something for you!

Despite us being close to the Grand Theft Auto 6 launch, we’re still getting news and anecdotes from Grand Theft Auto 5‘s development. According to a former Rockstar Games developer, the game was set to get a story DLC, but that it was canceled in favor of GTA Online.

Joe Rubino guested on the SanInPlay YouTube channel, and you can watch the whole interview below. Rubino, who was an editor and did second-unit directing on the DLC, described it as “kickass” and “awesome,” but said that the success of GTA Online meant leaders at the company didn’t think it was worth investing in both projects. He didn’t offer up details on specifics, but said that Trevor actor Steven Ogg was involved.

“When [GTA Online] came out, it was so much of a cash cow, and people were loving it so much that it was hard to make an argument that a standalone DLC would compete,” he said. “Looking back now, I would say that you could probably do both.”

While the free-to-play GTA Online was — and still is — popular, regularly bringing in tens of thousands of concurrent players on Steam, Grand Theft Auto 5 is one of the top-selling games of all time. According to Take-Two Interactive’s February financials, it sold over 195 million copies to date. It even beat out a bunch of Call of Duty titles to become the top-selling game of the 2010s.

However, aspects of the project weren’t completely shelved. He noted that it was around “halfway” done, and elements were eventually incorporated into GTA Online. The teams were working on both GTA games and Red Dead Redemption 2 simultaneously, so when the DLC was scrapped, many of them moved over to GTA Online.

Rubino, who has since worked with Amazon Games and NetEase, also gave a bit more insight into the security situation around Rockstar Games — specifically the New York City office. He mentioned that you had to go through three levels of security to get to his part of the company, which handled a lot of the story and early parts of development.

Epic says that Apple has once again rejected its submission for a third-party app store, according to a series of posts on X. The company says that Apple rejected the latest submission over the design and position of the “install” button on the app store, claiming that it too closely resembles Apple’s own “get” button. Apple also allegedly said that Epic’s “in-app purchases” label is too similar to its own label, used for the same reason.

The maker of Fortnite suggests that this is just another salvo in the long-running dispute between the two companies. Epic says that it’s using the same “install” and “in-app purchases” naming conventions found “across popular app stores on multiple platforms.” As for the design language, the company states that it’s “following standard conventions for buttons in iOS apps” and that they’re “just trying to build a store that mobile users can easily understand.”

Epic has called the rejection “arbitrary, obstructive and in violation of the DMA.” To that end, it has shared concerns with the European Commission in charge of tracking potential Digital Markets Act (DMA) violations. The company still says it’s ready to launch both the Epic Games Store and Fortnite on iOS in the EU in “the next couple of months” so long as Apple doesn’t put up “further roadblocks.”

This is just the latest news from a rivalry that goes back years. The two companies have been sparring ever since Epic started using its own in-app payment option in the iOS version of Fortnite, keeping Apple away from its 30 percent cut.

This led to a lengthy legal battle in the US about Apple’s walled-garden approach to its app store. Epic sued Apple and Apple banned Epic. A judge issued a permanent injunction as a way to allow developers to avoid Apple’s 30 percent cut of sales. This didn’t satisfy anyone. Apple wasn’t happy, for obvious reasons, and Epic contested the language of the injunction, which didn’t call out Apple for having a monopoly. Both companies appealed, eventually making its way to the Supreme Court. The court decided not to hear the case. The justices must have had other things to do.

As the two companies continued bickering in the US, the EU passed the aforementioned DMA. This forced Apple’s hand into allowing third-party storefronts on iOS devices in Europe. Since then, Epic has been trying to get its storefront going but has been met by resistance from Apple.

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Dragon Age features a ton of different customization options. Just within the character creator, there are hundreds of options to customize things like hair, body type, what your playable character Rook’s face looks like, and so much more. There are also a ton of armor options, too. 

Companions have an armor slot, a ring slot, an accessory slot, and a weapon slot, while Rook has access to even more – a helmet, two weapon slots, a belt, an amulet slot, and two ring slots. A belt having its own slot might sound odd as it’s not an armor piece people typically think of when kitting out an RPG warrior. However, the belt is an important facet of Rook’s kit. The better Rook’s belt, the better the potency of their healing potions, which are replenished by destroying green pots scattered about the world. That’s not all, though, as higher-quality belts can proc [editor’s note: proc is a term used as a shorter way of saying “programmed random occurrence”] additional effects like momentary invulnerability. 

When creating your character, you can immediately view aspirational armors, which won’t play into Rook’s class until the “mid-to-late game,” according to game director Corinne Busche. You can also toggle Rook’s starting gear and casual wear in the creator, giving you a pretty good look at how Rook will look in more laidback cutscenes, in combat, and how they might appear later in your Veilguard journey. Busche tells me a lot of the gear in Veilguard is bespoke to your Rook or their followers, which is to say, an armor piece for a Warrior-class Rook probably won’t be in a chest for a Mage-class Rook. On a similar note, armor designed for companion Bellara Lutara can’t be used for another companion like Lace Harding.

In just my few hours viewing Busche play the game as part of my visit to BioWare’s Edmonton office for our current Game Informer cover story, I see a lot of armor to collect from things like chests scattered about Arlathan Forest, for example, and elsewhere. Some of it looks awesome, and some of it doesn’t quite line up with my personal taste. That’s how it goes in the genre of RPGs.

However, Busche tells me there is transmogrification, or transmog for short, in the game, and calls it “robust.” This means you can take an armor’s stats and apply it to a different piece of armor. In other words, if you have a really cool piece of armor you like and find a new piece with better stats but don’t want to give up the look of your current armor, you don’t have to. Transmog allows you to take that new armor’s stats and apply them to your current armor, giving you all the benefits while keeping the visual style you prefer. 

Transmog isnt just for Rook, though; you can transmog armor and other things for your companions as well. I don’t get to see how Veilguard’s transmog system works in-game, but just knowing it exists allows me to rest easy knowing my Rook will look as fashionable as possible while saving Thedas. 

For more about the game, including exclusive details, interviews, video features, and more, click the Dragon Age: The Veilguard hub button below.