News - How Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker Secretly Prepared Us For The Series' Futu

Despite its slim lineup so far, Nintendo Switch 2's GameCube library already offers some great titles, but the obvious highlight is The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Link's seafaring adventure was a daring and imaginative entry at the time of its original release, and while it eventually would be touched up and brought to the Wii U, this marks the first time Nintendo has reissued the game in its original form in over 20 years. What's most stunning when revisiting the game now, however, is its sense of boundless freedom, which offers a glimpse of the freeform direction the Zelda series would eventually embrace with Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.

Though now widely regarded as a classic, The Wind Waker was hotly divisive when it arrived back in 2003. Its sunny, cartoonish visuals in particular stirred up quite a bit of controversy for deviating so dramatically from the 2000 Zelda tech demo, but the final game was not the radical departure it initially appeared to be. Beneath its unconventional surface, The Wind Waker remains firmly rooted in series traditions. The framework underpinning the adventure is mostly untouched, following the same formula pioneered by A Link to the Past and later codified by Ocarina of Time. But despite this, the game manages to carve out some notable changes within this template to completely recolor the experience.

The boldest is the shift in setting. The Wind Waker trades the rolling fields and misty forests of Hyrule for the endless blue waves and sun-bleached islands of the Great Sea. Your journey still follows the familiar contours of previous games; you'll scour the far edges of the world collecting three magical relics, obtaining the Master Sword, and plumbing another handful of dungeons before ultimately confronting the evil Ganon. But the alluring, high-seas backdrop evokes a sense of mystique and adventure that no other Zelda title up to that point could elicit.

News - New FBC Firebreak Update Will Address The Game's "Frustrating" Opening Hour

FBC: Firebreak has been out for around a month, and Remedy Entertainment has revealed how it plans to draw more players in ahead of the game's first big update in September. While Steam only counts for a portion of the game's audience--it's also available through the Epic Games Store, as well as on Xbox Series X|S and PS5--the numbers haven't been too encouraging lately. The game peaked with 1,992 players on launch day, and since then, those numbers have fallen to well under 100 concurrent players on average.

In a blog post, Remedy says that one of the issues it looks to address is the opening of the game, as that crucial first hour has become a point of criticism amongst the playerbase. "We've seen many players come into the game and leave within the first hour. And that's because our first hour can be frustrating; you feel ineffective and confused as to what to do. This needs to be improved," Remedy explained.

The company says that it plans to improve the narrative onboarding experience by placing an introductory video into the game and improving the tutorial section with better pop-up tips. In effect, this should help players figure out "where they are, who they are, and what they are trying to achieve" as members of Firebreak.

News - The Wheel Of Time 3-Book Box Set Is Only $12 At Amazon Right Now

Robert Jordan - The Wheel of Time

Paperback Box Sets

See at Amazon

Fantasy fiction readers who haven't read Robert Jordan's beloved high fantasy series The Wheel of Time can take advantage of an awesome box set deal at Amazon right now. The first three books in the series are available in a paperback box set for only $12.36 (was $33), which breaks down to $4.12 per book.

To complete the 15-novel series, you'd need to pick up four additional box sets. None of the other sets are as cheap as the first one, but you can get each for $20 or less. Longtime fans who haven't picked up the special 30th Anniversary Edition of The Eye of the World can get the nice hardcover edition of the first book in The Wheel of Time for over 50% off right now.

News - Nintendo Is Holding Another Switch Online Playtest Soon, Here's How To Sign Up

Nintendo has announced it is hosting another Switch Online Playtest Program later this month. The closed beta is slated to begin on July 28, and it will give eligible users another chance to sample the same mystery service that was tested out during the October 2024 Playtest Program.

As before, the Switch Online Playtest Program is only open to select players on a first come, first served basis. To qualify, you must be at least 18 years old and have an active Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription as of July 17.

This time around, Nintendo is allowing players to apply either individually or as part of a group. You can create an application starting on July 18 at 3 PM PT/6 PM ET, with registration formally opening on July 21 at 8 AM PT/11 AM ET. Full details can be found on Nintendo's website.

(Free Game Key) Epic Games - Civilization VI Platinum Edition

https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/sid-meiers-civilization-vi--platinum-edition

click Get button
verify the game is free
complete "purchase"


https://steamcommunity.com/groups/GrabFr...9952464027

(Indie Deal) Killing Floor 3 & WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers coming soon

• - 15% off any store purchase
  
• - 30% off any bundle purchase

News - Call Of Duty Is Now Asking Players To Verify Their Age

As previously reported by CharlieIntel, some players are receiving messages when logging in to play Call of Duty, requiring them to enter a date of birth before continuing to the game.

An age-verification measure shouldn't be too surprising. Call of Duty games are packaged with a Mature rating in the United States, which means the content is only intended for audiences aged 17 and up, as classified by the ESRB. Call of Duty receives these ratings due to the games featuring blood and gore, strong language, mature themes, and sometimes drug use. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone feature a variety of popular weed-smoking operators, such as Cheech and Chong, Jay and Silent Bob, Seth Rogen, and Snoop Dogg.

"In accordance with our efforts to deliver a positive community experience as detailed in the Call of Duty Code of Conduct, Activision players are being asked to provide updated information to their accounts," Activision said in a statement provided to CharlieIntel.

(Free Game Key) Epic Games - Civilization VI Platinum Edition

https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/sid-meiers-civilization-vi--platinum-edition

click Get button
verify the game is free
complete "purchase"


https://steamcommunity.com/groups/GrabFr...9952464027

News - How COVID Changed FX's Alien: Earth Series

Living through a pandemic isn't entirely unlike being stalked by "a perfect organism" hellbent on tearing you limb from limb. As it turns out, that similarity was not lost on Noah Hawley, showrunner for FX's Alien series, Alien: Earth. During a roundtable chat, Hawley explained how the pandemic affected the Alien series logistically and thematically.

"We went through this COVID period. I was shut down on Fargo [Season 4]. We had six months before we could go back into production," Hawley said. "And I remember, everything's shut down, and no one really knew what to do, and this [Alien] project was already in the works. For about six months, I would just have a weekly call with [FX's] John Landgraf and Gina Balian, and we would just sort of talk around this idea of the show and, you know, it was actually a really great period to be able to workshop it."

While those considerations were more practical, Hawley added that the series and the pandemic naturally share some space in his mind.

(Free Game Key) Steam | Ultimate Zombie Defense

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1035510
Free till July 15.


https://steamcommunity.com/groups/GrabFr...3925671111