BORUSSIA Dortmund’s American wonderkid Christian Pulisic scored twice and set up another in his side’s 3-1 win over Liverpool in the International Champions Cup in Charlotte, North Carolina. The teenager was clearly the best player on the pitch, but was strangely ineligible to be named man of the match. It had nothing to do with his performance. Pulisic simply wasn’t old enough. The award was sponsored by Heineken and tournament organisers deemed the 19-year-old Pulisic ineligible to receive it because the legal drinking age in the United States is 21. It’s an odd set of circumstances, especially for a pre-season tournament in which both teams were always expected to play their younger players. With the majority of players technically ineligible for the award, it was 27-year-old Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk who picked up the accolade. Though the Man of the Match award will remain beyond his reach (for now), Pulisic will look to continue his fine form for the remainder of the International Champions Cup.

ALLAN Border has called for Test cricket to be played without the toss on a trial basis to help remedy the imbalance between home and away teams in the five-day game. Make no mistake, the 2010s have been a historically bad decade to play Test cricket away from home, with touring sides suffering defeat 189 times and only winning 101 of the 369 Tests played since 2010*. That’s a win-loss ratio of 0.535. The last time touring sides had it so tough in Test cricket they had to sail for more than a month across three oceans. That was in the 1870s — the only decade when away sides have fared worse, with Australia beating England 2-1 at home. It’s a trend regularly attributed to pitch doctoring by home sides, and Border believes scrapping the toss has to at least be explored as a solution. “I’m in the camp for no toss and letting the visiting side decide,” Border told foxsports.com.au. “Traditionally it shouldn’t play such an important role in the game but it has become that way. “I don’t think we need to fiddle around with Test cricket too much but it has become an issue because all visiting sides feel like they get stitched up by pitch preparation. “Of course, the only way to do these things is to trial them first.” The former Australia captain believes a 12-month trial starting from the end of the 2019 Indian Premier League season would suffice, allowing the game’s governing bodies time to see how it affects results and the quality of pitches. Border is not the first to call for the toss to be scrapped. In 2015, Ricky Ponting, Michael Holding, Shane Warne and Ian Botham all shared the same opinion. It was echoed last week by South Africa captain Faf du Plessis after his side’s embarrassing 278-run loss to Sri Lanka in the first Test. The match saw his team bowled out for 126 and 73 after losing the toss, with 17 of their 20 wickets falling to spin. Right now the Proteas are 5-139 — their biggest total of the series — chasing 490 to win in the second Test. “I’m a big fan of taking away the toss,” du Plessis said. “I think even in South Africa you’ll still prepare the conditions the way you prepare them now, but you just make sure that you bring some balance. “In home conditions teams will still win the majority of the games, but you still do even it out a little. I think over the last two or three years away-records have definitely gone down, and games are finishing a lot sooner than they used to.” The numbers suggest du Plessis may be on to something. Over the past three years away teams have won 57 Tests and lost 115 (W/L of 0.486). Those statistics improve drastically when the visiting side has won the toss – 23 wins to 28 losses (0.821)*. On the flip side of the coin, after losing the toss away teams have only won 16 matches and lost 52 (0.308). In fact, in terms of W/L ratio, the only decade when it has been worse to lose the toss on tour was the first 10 years of the 1900s (0.333). In the 2010s, the away team has a W/L ratio of 0.443 after losing the toss. However, Ian Chappell believes the issue is bigger than the coin toss. In his column for Cricinfo, Chappell opined that the rise of Twenty20 cricket has left today’s batters ill-equipped to play away from home, making doctored pitches a tantalising opportunity for host nations. “Any captain making such a complaint should consider that the best way to ensure fair pitches is to choose a well-balanced attack and select batsmen with the technique and ability to succeed in all conditions,” he penned. “If the modern player isn’t afforded sufficient opportunity to hone his skills at first-class level then it becomes difficult to succeed in the variety of conditions experienced at Test level. “Successful players like Virat Kohli and Joe Root developed in an era where they still played enough longer-form cricket to hone a complete set of skills. The question is, with the proliferation of T20 leagues, will the next generation of players be afforded those same opportunities at first-class level?” For his part, Border believes the change in mindset brought about by T20 cricket has had an impact on how teams fare on the road. “It’s a power hitting game growing up now because you want to be able to play short form cricket,” he said. “Test batting technique has suffered as a result, making turning and seaming pitches that much tougher to play on...at the same time, I never won a Test in India or Pakistan in my playing days.” Whatever the case it appears the toss is here to stay. In May the ICC cricket committee advised the ICC to retain the tradition, arguing “it was an integral part of Test cricket which forms part of the narrative of the game.” *Including Pakistan’s Tests in the United Arab Emirates as home matches.

MICHAEL Walters has endorsed the possible inclusion of Harley Bennell against Hawthorn at Optus Stadium on Sunday after the injury-prone star produced his strongest performance of the season at Peel over the weekend. Yet to play for the Dockers this year, Bennell had 22 disposals and kicked a goal in the Thunder’s win over South Fremantle on Saturday and will be strongly considered to tackle the Hawks. Sean Darcy (groin) is expected to be fit after he was a late withdrawal from the side that suffered a 29-point defeat to Essendon on Saturday, while Aaron Sandilands (calf) and Stephen Hill (quad) will also push their cases. Bennell has played only two games for Fremantle since crossing from Gold Coast at the end of 2015, but is poised to earn a fresh contract for 2019. The 25-year-old has featured in nine matches for Peel this year, steadily building his game time and workload. “Harley is a quality player and he’s been hitting his straps at Peel Thunder,” Walters said. “He’s playing his role down there and showing his leadership. He’s played 83 AFL games and I can’t wait to have him in the side when he’s ready. “He’s a confident boy and that’s what we love about him. “He brings the team up and the whole team plays better when he’s playing. “I haven’t played too much footy with him due to injury, but everyone knows what he can do. “He showed it at Gold Coast and when it’s his turn to come in he’s going to play his role.” Bennell would offer a welcome injection of class to a Fremantle side beaten badly by the Bombers despite the 13.21 (99) to 11.4 (70) scoreline. The Dockers’ average losing margin interstate this year is 52 points and as is the case with young sides, there is a gulf between away form and the performances at home. Fremantle stuck to their stated youth policy and fielded eight players against Essendon with fewer than 30 games under their belts. Nine players were aged 22 or younger in the second-youngest team sent out by any club in round 18. Walters played almost a lone hand in attack, kicking 3.2 and dishing off two goal assists. The 27-year-old is a member of the club’s seven-man leadership group and refused to use the team’s collective inexperience as an excuse. He implored his younger teammates not to let another potentially deflating interstate result distract them from the rebuilding team’s end goal. “We do have a lot of young boys in the team, but us older boys and leaders need to make sure we fast-track them,” Walters said. “We can’t let them dwell on the loss. We can’t let them dwell on their game if they have a poor game. “We need to make sure they front up next week, make sure all their recovery is done to a tee and move forward. We need them to believe in themselves and play their roles. “We don’t want to get too lost in wins and losses. We just want to improve week by week and we aim to bounce back. The fans and everyone know what direction we’re going in.”

Naby Keita is evidently a special player in Jurgen Klopp's eyes. So keen was Liverpool boss Klopp to sign Keita that he gave the green light 12 months ago to a then club record £50m outlay on the Guinea midfielder - £48m plus an additional fee because RB Leipzig qualified for the Europa League last season. He also agreed to the Bundesliga outfit's demand that Liverpool wait a year before they could actually have him. Now Keita is here, he has been given the coveted number eight shirt that was the preserve of club legend Steven Gerrard. So how did he perform in Sunday's 3-1 International Champions Cup loss to Borussia Dortmund? An impressive start There is a buzz surrounding Keita's arrival on Merseyside. Not many Liverpool fans at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina were local to north-west England but when his name was read out among the Reds' eight half-time changes, it generated the biggest roar of approval. Keita paired up with Ben Woodburn and took up an advanced midfield role, in front and to the left of anchorman James Milner. His first touch was an impressive flick with the outside of his left foot, intended for Alberto Moreno but very slightly over-hit. On the hour mark came a super step-over that created room for a chipped left-footed cross from the byeline that almost brought Liverpool a second goal. It didn't really come off in this game but Keita needs little invitation to attack the opposition goal, whether he is running at it or sniffing round for scraps from the strikers. Little wonder he was Leipzig's third top scorer last season with nine goals, a number Liverpool would be grateful for in the coming campaign - last term, apart from star attacking players Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho, no-one scored more than three times in the Premier League. What they said - 'The reaction in Guinea has been crazy' Jurgen Klopp: "I don't want to give him 500,000 bits of information. Tactical discipline is a big strength and he does the right things in the right moment, which is how good players are. "First of all, we will let him go and adapt to our system. He can play 10, in the future he might be a six. He played as a winger at Leipzig, which is not his best position but he has the speed for it and football intelligence. "But we see him as a creative number eight playing the passes, making the runs with the ball. He has the same speed with the ball and without it, which is cool." Naby Keita: "The reaction in Guinea has been crazy, absolutely crazy. People are buying Liverpool shirts, or any red shirt. The interest is down to the fact no Guinean footballer has ever made it big or played for a top, top club. It is a source of pride back home that I have signed for Liverpool." James Pearce, Liverpool FC correspondent of the Liverpool Echo: "There is massive expectation, which has been heightened by the fact Liverpool fans have had to wait a year to see Keita play. "He is expected to add the dynamism and energy the team have maybe been lacking. He is a nailed-on starter and from what we have seen so far, he will be ideally suited to the Premier League. He is only slight but he is strong and if anything, he will have to rein his tackling in."

FIRST-YEAR Hawk James Worpel is making waves after being plucked out with Hawthorn’s first selection in the 2017 draft. The inside midfielder produced one of the more impressive individual performances any of his fellow draft class players have produced this season, impacting with a standout game in the Hawks’ 72-point win over Carlton on Sunday. Worpel’s strong 32 disposals, five inside 50s and four tackles performance drew plaudits from three-time premiership coach Mick Malthouse, receiving one vote in his 3-2-1 best on ground votes on ABC Grandstand. Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson was full of praise for the 19-year-old, who returned to the side and stepped up in the absence of midfielder Jaeger O’Meara. “Young fella Worpel came into the side as a midfielder and made a real strong contribution for us through the middle,” Clarkson said in his post-match press conference. “Games like that it’s obviously good to get the four points and a bit of percentage, but as it turned out but we’re still trying to find that group of players that are going to help us get back up the ladder and try to challenge in the next couple of years and that’s why it was pleasing, someone like Worpel did well for us today.” Clarkson’s multiple mentions of Worpel in his nine-minute press conference indicate the high hopes the four-time premiership coach has for the first year player. As a dual All-Australian at Under 18 level and having won Vic Country’s MVP after a standout Under 18 Championships, the Hawks didn’t hesitate to grab the strong bodied midfielder when he slid down the draft order to Pick No. 45 — after some clubs questioned his decision making and kicking execution. Despite averaging just 43.6 per cent kicking efficiency in the TAC Cup, Worpel’s competitiveness and leadership was on show throughout his underage level, with Geelong Falcons coach Daniel O’Keefe telling SEN Inside Football that his “strength to win the contested ball” was better than anyone that he’d coached. But Worpel has shown in his four AFL games that his strength in the contest will make him a vital cog in Hawthorn’s midfield for years to come. Worpel was extremely pleased with his performance after the match, explaining that he has found the transition from AFL to VFL easy. “Obviously I’m pretty happy,” Worpel told the club’s website. “It is a bit similar (AFL to VFL), it’s just another level up. You always get the similarities between the two and footy’s footy. “I am really enjoying it (first year), obviously it’s all I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid. I think I’ve played four games now which is good and obviously a lot more than I thought in my first year, so every game is a bonus for me.”

IT’S the worst case of deja-vu. Chautauqua was up to his old tricks again after failing to leave the gates at Rosehill Gardens. The great sprinter’s future in racing is now under a huge cloud. Formerly the world’s highest rated sprinter, Chautauqua missed the autumn and the chance for a fourth TJ Smith Stakes win when he refused to leave the gates four times in trials. He needed to jump today in order to be reinstated to race again. Chautauqua passed the first of two enforced tests in a jump-out at Flemington last Friday week and needed another satisfactory performance to ensure he could start in the Group Two Missile Stakes on August 4 with one of his goals The Everest on October 13. Jockey Tommy Berry didn’t have a good feeling before the gates flew open, saying he was very laid back in the stall. “As soon as he walked into the gates I knew he wasn’t going to jump,” Berry said. Chautauqua’s connections will meet soon to discuss the horse’s future.

A MAN is assisting authorities with their investigations into a fight between rival AFL fans on the weekend, having recognised himself in social media footage of the brawl. Footage of Geelong and Melbourne fans fighting after the final siren on Saturday night has been met with condemnation, sparking calls for the AFL to take drastic action. A police spokesman said the man “voluntarily presented himself to his local police station after identifying himself in the footage of the brawl”. “His involvement in the incident is still to be determined and the investigation remains ongoing.” Melbourne Football Club chairman Glen Bartlett says it was sad to see rival fans turn violent, and has called for such behaviour to be stamped out. “It is unacceptable and it is not what your club stands for, what the AFL stands for,” he told 3AW radio on Monday. “It is a sad thing to see and we want to stamp it out. “It is about people being really responsible and if people are being too drunk to be there, security taking action.” Saturday’s brawl was the latest of several incidents of fan unrest at AFL games this season, prompting Kardinia Park Stadium Trust chief executive Michael Brown to suggest harsh penalties for those involved. Brown is considering revoking the memberships or even lifetime bans for the fans involved in the scuffle, the Herald Sun reported. The Cats are reviewing the incident to determine if any action needs to be taken by the club. “Football is an inclusive sport and every supporter that attends a game should be able to do so in a safe and enjoyable environment,” Geelong said in a statement after the game. The incident has ignited debate over segregating rival supporters in a bid to reduce violence. “We will look at all measures in full and if we find that separating sections of the crowd during games will make things safer then so be it,” Brown said. However, Bartlett said opposing supporters sitting side-by-side was a great aspect of the game, and that it would be a “very sad day” if segregation occurred. His comments were echoed by former Melbourne skipper Garry Lyon.

AFL boss Gillon McLachlan has ruled out segregating rival fans in the wake of a post-match brawl in the stands at GMHBA Stadium on the weekend. Footage of Geelong and Melbourne fans fighting after the final siren on Saturday night has been met with condemnation, and sparked calls for the AFL to take drastic action. But while McLachlan ruled out fan segregation, he insisted those responsible for the incident had to be held to account, while there may also be a case for a review of security measures. "It's core to us that you go with mates from the opposition team, you sit side-by-side with people from the opposition supporter groups," McLachlan told 3AW radio on Monday. "By and large they get on incredibly well - it's part of the banter and the fun." McLachlan said the actions of a small group of spectators should not tarnish the experience for the thousands that attend AFL games every week. "Whether it's strip memberships, whether it's police prosecute them for assault, that will play out in coming days," McLachlan said of those involved in the incident. McLachlan said consideration should be given to redistributing security staff after games, where the focus is normally on protecting the playing surface from intruders. A man is voluntarily assisting Victorian police with their investigations into the fight, having recognised himself in social media footage of the brawl. A police spokesman told AAP the man's "involvement in the incident is still to be determined and the investigation remains ongoing." Melbourne Football Club chairman Glen Bartlett said it was sad to see rival fans turn violent, and has called for such behaviour to be stamped out. "It is unacceptable and it is not what your club stands for, what the AFL stands for," he told 3AW radio on Monday. Saturday's brawl was the latest of several incidents of fan unrest at AFL games this season. Kardinia Park Stadium Trust chief executive Michael Brown is considering revoking the memberships or even lifetime bans for the fans involved in the scuffle, the Herald Sun reported. The Cats are reviewing the incident to determine if any action needs to be taken by the club. "Football is an inclusive sport and every supporter that attends a game should be able to do so in a safe and enjoyable environment," Geelong said in a statement after the game.

There are around three months remaining before Battlefield V releases worldwide for awaiting fans. Despite the same historical setting from the last installment, the new entry in the franchise is going to feature several changes that promise to uplift the core gameplay. These, having been mentioned by DICE before as well, still have a few details that are being revealed as the weeks go by. In a recent Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Reddit last week, producer for engagement and core gameplay Ryan McArthur answered a wide assortment of questions pertaining to the upcoming first-person shooter. The main brunch of the discussion has conveniently been summarized by a fellow community member so that the important bits can be easily digested in one sitting. Starting with the Company, a new customization system that allows you to create multiple characters with various cosmetic and weapon options. This personal collection, so to speak, will open up more options to suit your play-style as you progress through the multiplayer module. You can have multiple weapons for each soldier, including duplicates, that specialize in different arrays based on “choices” made. This hints an in-game skill tree that will possibly branch towards different roles for each class. The same goes for vehicles as well, covering both planes and tanks. When it comes to visual customization, soldiers can have their faces, helmets, face paints, jackets, and pants tweaked. On the same note, weapons have half-a-dozen customization slots to add emblems and such. However, do note that customization (of any kind) is specific to the two factions in the game. There will be no way to make a British soldier look like a German one, for example. This is to ensure that players do not confuse enemies as allies. Elsewhere, the developer reiterated that there will be no loot boxes in the game and the monetization model will be completely reliant on cosmetics. This needs bit of clarification but it may be that there will still be loot boxes, the difference being that they will only contain cosmetics and nothing pay-to-win. In line with the new live service approach, DICE has promised to support Battlefield V for as long as players are still playing. In other words, expect new content to continue arriving for at least the next two years. Finally, levels for vehicles and weapons are attached to their respective types. You will only be required to grind points for the tank category, for example, and not for every tank type in that category. This will bypass the frustration for picking up a new vehicle or weapon because you will still have the level advantage. Battlefield V is scheduled to release on October 19, 2018, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Those interested can start placing their pre-orders but you might want to hold back on that for the time being.

Mike Pondsmith the creator of one of the most anticipated titles in the works, Cyberpunk 2077 has recently shed some light on some of the most interesting details that give insight, on how brilliant the game is. One thing that we could instantly take away form Pondsmith, was the fact that nothing in this game, the concepts, and Ideas For Cyberpunk 2077, have been taken from thin air, each and every aspect of the game has been carefully manifested, in such a way that they can be correlated to reality. According to Pondsmith the concepts and Ideas For Cyberpunk 2077 have been taken from sources that can actually tangibly back up the reality. He said: “we didn’t just pull the ideas, concepts, and technology out of nowhere, we built them on things we could actually tangibly back in reality.” Further elaborating he gave the example of using cyberware in the game. As you may remember the cyborg, in the trailer for the game, the one that was using the makeup? Well according to Pondsmith cyberware in the game was not just glued to the bodies, without any logic. The developers consulted the professionals, like a neurosurgeon to see, how the cyberware could actually, and of course theoretically be implanted into the brain of humans. Then using the information they have built the logic of such cyberwares begin planted in the world of Cyberpunk 2077. Talking about that mouthless cyborg seen in the game trailer, did you know that such cyberware in the game is a form of fashion. As by now, you may very well have guessed that in Cyberpunk 2077, there is a very unique take on retro-futurism, like never seen before. So all this take of retro-futurism, blending the reality with futuristic technology, is really something that has not be created from thin air and that is what makes this game, all the more amazing. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below. Source: IGN

It has been just a week since Octopath Traveler released worldwide and it has turned out to be a huge hit with positive feedback from all around the world. Square Enix is definitely happy and surprised by the success of the game so much that it has been facing continuous problems due to the shortage of physical copies of the game in Japan. Octopath Traveler sold out far better than Square Enix ever expected because the physical copies of the game which recently were restocked in Japan did sellout in just 3 hours and Square Enix took it to Twitter to apologize to the fans once again which we have translated below. Square Enix said: I am sorry that the situation of shortage continues. We will continue to ship carefully so that we can deliver a sufficient number, but we are expecting that the number of shipping recently will be considerably fewer. I am sorry to have kept you waiting. We hope that you will be able to consider the download version if you do not mind. The team is apologizing for the shortage and they also are recommending you to buy the game digitally on the Switch eShop. The demand for the game is continuously increasing and the company will have to sort out these problems before it gets any worse and it’s clear that people in Japan prefer the physical version of the game. Recently, Developers of Octopath traveler including the director of Acquire, composer and the producer sent out a special message for all the fans to celebrate the success of the game. They also mentioned that releasing Octopath traveler all over the world simultaneously was a really hard task for them. Also if you have got your hands on the game do check out our Octopath Traveler leveling guide which will help you level up fast in the game.

Yager Development’s next game in line is a First Person Shooter The Cycle and from the looks, it does seem quite promising and it’s not Spec Ops: The Line 2. Just recently, the studio announced this new game alongside the trailer of the game and as you may see in the video, that the environment in the game will certainly be its selling point. It is very subtle but at the same time, it definitely depicts a lot of hostility in it. This First Person Shooter The Cycle is a multiplayer game, with cooperative alongside a lot of competitive gameplay elements. Besides killing other humans in the game, players will have a lot of other interactive things to attend to as well. They will be able to take on various quests and so much more. That said Yager Development has this game currently planned for PC, however, they also plan to release it on consoles as well, sometime in future. At the moment, the devs have not given a release date for this game but hopefully, when more details roll out regarding The Cycle, we will be able to have an idea about its release window. Even with no release date in sight, the studio has plans to have the closed alpha of the game, coming August. Which seems to point out to the fact that the game is probably in its finishing stages. The applications for the closed alpha are open at the moment, so if you wish you can certainly check that out. With all that said, for those are not familiar with Yager Development, it is a game developing studio from Berlin, Germany. They have provided a few games in the past but this one seems to be their most amazing project. Before we conclude, let us assure you that even though this First Person Shooter The Cycle is an online multiplayer game, the company has no plans to make it yet another, Battle Royale game. Seems to be that they are not the only ones, who do not wish to follow the genres of others. The devs of Halo Infinite too have taken a similar approach to this battle royale genre, as the 343 Industries, to have confirmed that Halo Infinite will not be getting a battle royale mode, period. So let us see what new will Yager be bringing in, The Cycle. What are your thoughts? Let us known in the comments below.

Without a doubt, Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the most anticipated games of the year and fans have waiting so long for this game to arrive. It’s surprising to know that because we haven’t seen much of the gameplay except for some few short clips from the trailers. According to the recent rumors, it is going to change because Rockstar is inviting the press to try out the game. Someone posted an update on Instagram which suggests that Rockstar has invited the members of the press to try out a demo of Red Dead Redemption 2. The image was shortly deleted but it made to Reddit. Another image has been shared by a journalist who’s thanking Rockstar for inviting them to play the game and that’s not all. Official merchandise for Red Dead Redemption 2 has also been leaked recently along with game’s Ultimate Edition which is being advertised at retail stores.

Halo Infinite, the next chapter in the iconic flagship franchise, may release in the near future without support for the popular Xbox Play Anywhere program. The official listing by Microsoft for the upcoming sequel makes no mention of the said feature. While the omission could be due to human error, listings for other upcoming first-party games from the publisher such as Gears 5 clearly mention support for the consumer-friendly scheme. Under the Xbox Play Anywhere initiative, purchasing a supported game on either Xbox One or Windows 10 automatically gets you free copy on the other platform. This process is further backed by cross-save functionality, allowing your progress to move between the two platforms. It basically gives players the freedom to play wherever they want without any added cost. Halo Infinite will still support 4K, HDR, and Xbox One X enhancements. Xbox Play Anywhere is the only missing feature from the list and that warrants a clarification. Microsoft has already been requested for a statement and an explanation should be available for fans this week. Halo Infinite will be the first installment in the science-fiction franchise to release on PC in more than a decade. The last entry on desktop systems was Halo 2 back in 2004. Hence, there is much excitement on both sides of the fence. There will likely be a large portion of players hoping for Xbox Play Anywhere to be there. Halo Infinite has been in development at 343 Industries for around three years, and remains without a release date. The new installment was only shown off for the first time at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3 2018) last month. However, it was purely a demonstration of the game engine and actual gameplay footage still remains aloof. Halo Infinite will continue from where Halo 5: Guardians left off and place Master Chief in the main spotlight once again after he was shoved aside to make way for new characters the last time. In other news, 343 Industries has confirmed that there will be no battle royale mode for Halo Infinite. The developer has also ruled out the mode for Halo 5 and future installments for the time being.

There is a mega online tournament currently taking place for Fortnite, dubbed the Summer Skirmish, that has Epic Games handing out $8 million in prize money over the coming weeks. Any competition that promises a payout with so many zeroes is always expected to attract the very best from the community but in this case, they were deemed to be a little too good. When the second week of the event ended on Friday, “iDropz_Bodies” was declared as the winner for racking up the most number of kills in ten matches. He earned $130,000 for eliminating 129 opponents. However, there was little celebration because he was soon accused of cheating in various forms. According to a lengthy post on Reddit over the weekend, the tournament leader colluded with other players for victory and also used a mouse and keyboard for added advantage. He allegedly also left servers if they were not full or if the fly-path was not in his favor, matches that were not taken into consideration. Following the severe accusations, Epic Games began a full investigation on the matter. The developer surprisingly did not take long to produce a verdict. The posted findings state that there was no collusion because each of the 129 eliminations was a different player. In addition, none of the accounts belonging to the eliminated players were created recently. There is also no evidence to prove the use of a mouse and keyboard but Epic Games noted that it does not “restrict input devices in an effort to promote accessibility” in Fortnite. Finally, the in-game analytics confirm that the accused did not abandon any matches due to the aforementioned reasons. With the investigation concluded, Epic Games reminded that such a lack of sportsmanship from the community will not be tolerated in future tournaments. “We appreciate the community’s concern around the integrity of the competition,” stated Epic Games, “but questioning the results of an individual participant without evidence unfairly tears apart at what should be a crowning moment of achievement for an individual who earned their way there and performed when it counted.” “Our primary goal is to support competition that is fun, inclusive, and in line with the overall spirit of Fortnite. Unsportsmanlike conduct from participants is not within that spirit, and will not be tolerated in Fortnite competition.” For those still suspicious, iDropz_Bodies has uploaded all replays of his matches to be dissected if the need be. The third week of the tournament is scheduled to commence on this Friday. Until then, Fortnite will be celebrating its first birthday with a special limited-time event that will run from July 24 to August 7.

Among so many PS4 exclusives that are in the pipeline, Spiderman PS4 is among the most amazing and perhaps the reason for the fans, to be very much hyped up about. To be honest it is one of the biggest games ever developed by Insomniac Games, which itself is a huge achievement. That said, let us add more to the excitement of the game by telling you that the lovely Mary Jane in Spiderman PS4, will be voiced by none other than Laura Bailey. Laura Bailey is one of the most popular actresses, who has provided voices for one of the most popular games out there in the market. She has voiced roles like Serah Farron in the Final Fantasy XIII series, Serana in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Dawnguard, Olympia Vale in Halo 5: Guardians, Nadine Ross in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and so many other popular games. So perhaps her voicing Mary Jane In Spiderman PS4, just might be for the better We came to know of this, when the creative director of Insomniac Games, Bryan Intihar recently took to his Twitter account and gave confirmation of Laura Bailey, voicing Mary Jane In Spiderman PS4. Intihar also shed a few praising words for her as well, he said, Laura Bailey is “one of the most talented people I’ve ever worked with.” Well obviously, she has had a lot of experience voicing a great many characters in various games and animes, so definitely she would be a very comfortable person to work with. It’s been great to finally be able to reveal more of the #SpiderManPS4 cast. And as many of guessed awhile back, I can finally say that @LauraBaileyVO is our MJ. Laura is one of the most talented people I’ve ever worked with, period. Just don’t tell her I said that. — Bryan Intihar (@bryanintihar) July 20, 2018 With all that said, just recently PlayStation published, the second issue of The Daily Bugle and a great many details for this upcoming game, seems to have surfaced. Among the various details, was a tease of a new classic villain that shall be featured in the game. Since its a tease, so a lot is unclear but few of the theories suggest that its either of the two, Tombstone or Carrion. Be that as it may, what are your thoughts about Mary Jane In Spiderman PS4 being voiced by, Laura Bailey? Let us know in the comments below.

Fortnite Battle Royale from Epic Games has been a huge success since it first came out last year. Finally, the game is turning one year old and to celebrate that Epic Games have announced an exclusive event in the game starting on July 24 with some surprises. The birthday celebration event will start on July 24 and it will allow players to unlock many different cosmetics in the game by completing quests and challenges. Challenges are: Deal 1,000 damage to opponents to unlock the Fortnite Birthday Emote Dance at different birthday cakes to unlock the Happy Birthday Spray Play 14 matches to unlock 5,000 XP. Complete all 3 challenges to earn the Birthday Cake Back Bling With each challenge you complete, a set of rewards will be unlocked afterward. As for the main Save The World Mode, players will have to complete the Fortnite Birthday quest line to gain the new Birthday Brigade Ramirez hero. Save The World Mode players can also spend their tickets on the new Birthday Llama which will contain new weapons and heroes from the current year. These above-mentioned challenges are not going to be so hard to complete even for the casual players of Save The World and Battle Royale mode. Other than that some special skins will be also available in the shop for you to grab. In other news, it has been officially reported that Fortnite has made more than $1 Billion from the in-game transactions alone which is a set record for Epic Games due to the game being completely free. Fortnite is a huge success and eveyrone’s playing it but it can also be a nightmare for parents. Parents are disappointed by their kids who are addicted to Fortnite. Will you complete Fortnite birthday challenges? Let us know in the comments below.h

We are closer than ever to the release of Spiderman PS4 which is said to be the biggest game of the year 2018. We already have seen many villains in the previous trailers and it looks like the list continues to grow everytime we get a new trailer for the game. A new story trailer of the game was released at San Diego Comic-Con, giving us a closer look at Peter Parker and his new enemy, Silver Sable. The trailer reveals that Spider will have some out of the costume partners with him in quests. In addition to the evergrowing list of enemies that Spiderman will have to defeat, Silver Sable has now joined them. The pretty brute mercenary has been hired by New York Mayor Norman Osborn to clean the streets of New York so nothing stands in the way to the re-elections. Surprisingly, Spidey has also been declared a villain in the result of it so it’s going to be you against the world when the game arrives. Spiderman PS4 will release on September 27, 2018, exclusively for PS4.

In a game where performance in combat is the lifeline of your character, you will need to make sure you are heading into every battle with the best of your options. When it comes to upgrading your main Nail Weapon, it is only possible via the use of Pale Ore. Below; we have highlighted Hollow Knight Pale Ore Locations for where you might find this item in the world of Hollow Knight. Hollow Knight Pale Ore Locations Even though you do not need Pale Ore for your first upgrade of Nail Weapon, the subsequent ones will require an increasing number of Pale Ores so it is essential you can find them. Since they will allow you to increase the damage potential of your weapon so it remains effective against tougher enemies, you need to sidetrack and complete certain tasks to acquire these ores. Once you have collected all the Pale Ores and paid some Geo to the Nailsmith, you will have upgraded your regular Nail Weapon to the powerful The Knights Nail. In total, you can find six Pale Ore in the world of Hollow Knight. Check out the locations for each one below: Hollownests Crown Before you head to this particular place, make sure you have the Mantis Claw and Monarch Wings if you wish to access the Pale Ore. Now, head to the very top of Crystal Peak region where you will find the statue of The Radiance. Embedded inside, indicated by a bright shine, will be the Pale Ore. Ancient Basin To the left of the main entrance, nearby the tram station, there will be a spot that is guarded by two Lesser Mawleks. Take them down and then proceed to grab the Pale Ore. Deepnest This comes at the expense of exploring a secret location. If you make your way to the Hot Springs, you will notice a wall left of it which is breakable. This reveals a passageway in the form of a tunnel which leads you to a secret optional boss, Nosk. Defeat him and you will receive Pale Ore as the dropped loot. Grubfather Small creatures called Grubs are entrapped in containers riddled throughout the world of Hollow Knight. Once you are able to liberate 31 of them, you can head to the NPC, Grubfather, in Forgotten Crossroads who will reward you with the next Pale Ore. Seer Seer in Resting Grounds gets you an item known as Dreamnail which allows you to enter mysterious realms where you are able to collect Essence. Once you have collected about 300, head back to Seer and he will reward you with a Pale Ore. Colosseum of Fools In this particular location, you will need to complete three trails each with varying levels of difficulty: Trial of the Warrior, Trial of the Conqueror, and Trial of the Fool. After you have defeated all foes in these challenges, you will be granted the final Pale Ore and additionally, a decent 1800 Geo. Now that you have all the parts that go into upgrading your weapon, test it out by destroying enemies left and right! This is all we have in our Hollow Knight Pale Ore Locations Guide. If there is anything else that you would like to add, let us know in the comments section below!

Several tweets from James Gunn’s account resurfaced where the Director of Guardians of the Galaxy volumes was seen joking about contentious issues such as pedophilia. As a result of this Disney and Marvel had to let go of James Gunn who gave them mega-hits by directing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.1 & Vol.2 and was expected to work on the third volume as well. Chairman of Walt Disney Studios, Alan Horn reflected on this issue by saying: The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James’ Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio’s values, and we have severed our business relationship with him. Whereas James Gunn replied on this matter with the following tweet as first: Many people who have followed my career know, when I started, I viewed myself as a provocateur, making movies and telling jokes that were outrageous and taboo. As I have discussed publicly many times, as I’ve developed as a person, so has my work and my humor. It’s not to say I’m better, but I am very, very different than I was a few years ago; today I try to root my work in love and connection and less in anger. My days saying something just because it’s shocking and trying to get a reaction are over. Many of these tweets by James Gunn were written back in 2008 & 2009 but reemerged after a media website cracked them up from the past. On Friday afternoon James released his public statement for an apology of his past conduct: My words of nearly a decade ago were, at the time, totally failed and unfortunate efforts to be provocative. I have regretted them for many years since — not just because they were stupid, not at all funny, wildly insensitive, and certainly not provocative like I had hoped, but also because they don’t reflect the person I am today or have been for some time. Regardless of how much time has passed, I understand and accept the business decisions taken today. Even these many years later, I take full responsibility for the way I conducted myself then. All I can do now, beyond offering my sincere and heartfelt regret, is to be the best human being I can be: accepting, understanding, committed to equality, and far more thoughtful about my public statements and my obligations to our public discourse. To everyone inside my industry and beyond, I again offer my deepest apologies. Love to all. Although Marvel had not issued any date 2020 was likely going to be the release year for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The shooting of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 was projected to begin this fall in Atlanta and James had been busy in script writing of the third volume also. Now with Gunn out of the picture fans have been starting to ask for Thor Ragnarok’s Director Taika Waititi. We’ll have to wait to see if that works out. Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Nintendo Switch hackers have been trying to run pirated games and homebrew software on the device. While there have been successful attempts at doing so it seems that the Nintendo Switch firmware and how things work behind the scenes is not common knowledge. A couple of slides have been released on the internet that shows how the Nintendo Switch has been compromised. The slides go into depth regarding how the firmware works and the security that Nintendo uses in order to protect against piracy. The slides also highlight how users can install custom firmware as well as homebrew software. You can check out the slides included below: I must admit that I am not a hacker or a software engineer of any sort so I do not get what half of this stuff means. If anyone has expertise in this regard then feel free to start a conversation and explain how all of this works and the effects that it could have in the near future. Nintendo is very fussy when it comes to security and it will be interesting to see how Nintendo is going to counter this information that has now gone public. While we are providing you with this information, keep in mind that any kind of experimentation that you do is at your own risk. We do not encourage the use of homebrew software and we do not recommend getting involved in this stuff especially if you do not know what you are going. Unreal Engine 4.20 has also been released and it introduces a couple of improvements to the Nintendo Switch, which include the following: Support for Dynamic Resolution and Temporal Upsampling Low Latency Frame Syncing for Controller Input Significant CPU Rendering Optimizations Improvements to Threading Better Texture Compression Support for Memory Profiling Backbuffer support for 1080p while in docked mode And many other fixes More than 900 games have been released for the Nintendo Switch so far and that is one of the reasons why the console is so successful. There are upcoming games that have yet to come to the Nintendo Switch. These not only include first-party applications but third-party games as well.

No Man’s Sky launched in 2016 and we all remember the state in which the game launched. But, developer Hello Games have turned things around with constant updates with Next update scheduled for July 24. However, according to the devs, the game that launched in 2016 was the game they wanted it to be. Speaking with the Guardian, game director Sean Murray talked about No Man’s Sky and his vision of the game. He confirmed that the game launched in 2016 was the game that the devs wanted it to be. He added that he wanted for players to experience the feeling of landing on a planet where no has landed before and wanted to expand it but players probably didn’t play the game after 20 hours of play time. No Man’s Sky was what we wanted it to be when it launched. We always talked about the feeling of landing on a planet that no one had been on before … It was lonely. It had nice calm ambient moments in it. But we always wanted to expand it. If you played [the original game] for 20 hours, you probably got the experience that we wanted. But you probably would have never picked up No Man’s Sky again. No Man’s Sky was met with severe backlash from the gaming community for not delivering the game that was promised as major features from the game were missing that were promised before launch including the multiplayer. Now with subsequent updates, Hello Games has vastly improved their game and with NEXT update coming next week, the game will see major changes. No Man’s Sky features a universe for players to explore and the developers used procedural generation to render an entire universe. However, even with procedural generation developing the game wasn’t an easy task as Sean Murray revealed during his talk at GDC 2017 that developing the game was like building a rocket. I just wanted to sit down and write something completely different. Mainly, selfishly, because I just thought of the things I wanted to learn about, and then I started to write an engine that had those things in, I guess.

Elder Scrolls is one of the most famous franchises for Bethesda and The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind is the fans’ beloved entry in the franchise. With Bethesda bringing the Skyrim Special Edition to current-gen consoles, fans requested the developer for Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind remaster. However, Bethesda doesn’t want a Morrowind remaster. Speaking with the Guardian, Bethesda’s Todd Howard was asked about the possibility of Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind remaster to which he replied that he doesn’t want a Morrowind remaster. He further explained why he doesn’t want to remaster the Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind remaster. According to Todd, while remastering Skyrim, the game was pretty close to current-gen visuals but Morrowind is an old game and remastering it would take a lot of time. For Skyrim Remastered, we had done some work on it but it was already pretty visually close. But for something like Morrowind, my personal preference is not to remaster it. We [also] get asked a lot to remaster [1997’s] Fallout 1, and I usually say, if you have a PC you can play Fallout the way it was. I think that’s how it should be. However, he added that fans can play the Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind through backward compatibility and added that he prefers it that way as the game’s age is “part of its identity”. I’m happy that you can play Morrowind now on an Xbox One, as it’s backwards compatible. I’m really happy that Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo and others are making it easier for people to play [older games] as they were played at the time. I actually prefer that over remasters. I’d rather you play Morrowind the way it was … I think the age is part of its identity. However, Bethesda also announced the Elder Scrolls 6 during its E3 2018 presentation but, not, much has been revealed about the game as it is quite early in development and Bethesda will start full production on it after the launch of Fallout 76 and upcoming Starfield, a new IP from the studio. But, Bethesda has explained why It announced Elder Scrolls 6 so early. According to Bethesda, the reason for announcing Elder Scrolls 6 so early are the hardcore fans of the franchise.

Apparently the day that many Stardew Valley players have been waiting for is nearly here. The Stardew Valley multiplayer update, which will allow players to be able to play the game with their friends on one farm, is coming next month, on August 1 on the PC and later on consoles. Stardew Valley has normally only been a singleplayer game, where players inherit their grandfather’s old farmhouse in the small idyllic town of Pelican Town. The game became a gaming phenomenon for its addictive gameplay, colorful cast of characters, and the sheer zen feeling that players got from being able to farm in a nice, routine, relaxing manner while also being able to marry characters and explore dungeons crawling with monsters. The game has sold over four million copies since then across its various consoles including Xbox One, Playstation 4, PC, and Nintendo Switch, so there are bound to be a great many players who would want to make use of the Stardew Valley multiplayer when it releases. The Stardew Valley multiplayer will allow players and up to three friends to work on a single farm together, building buildings, clearing land, planting crops, and more. While this will help you to get a lot more done in a day, it could also lead to a large number of different shenanigans with you and your friends as they purposefully mess up your farm and deliberately inconvenience you, though hopefully it can overall just be a positive experience with your friends. There’s no telling when the Stardew Valley multiplayer will be coming out for the game’s other platforms than the PC, but they’ll likely be coming out for each different version over the coming months. In the meantime, if you own the game on the PC, you’ll be able to play the game with your friends starting August 1.

From Software is no stranger to games with a lot of obtuse lore that often goes unexplained, and they have now said that Sekiro’s dark secrets are going to be hidden in the game in a similar manner. While they didn’t elaborate, the studio said the game has some dark, hidden things in it. Sekiro is one of the most grounded games that From Software has had in a long while. Over a decade of game development, every single Soulsborne game that has been released has been a fantasy world that, if not for the sheer size of all of the structures, the magic, the soul arts, and everything else involved, could be indistinguishable from medieval times. Sekiro, in the meantime, aside from the far-too-advanced prosthetic arm that will be a major part of the gameplay, so far seems to be fairly realistic. However, that might just be where Sekiro’s dark secrets come in. The game’s plot focuses around a samurai who’s attempting to rescue his lord, who is going to be sacrificed for his noble blood to be used in a ritual. This could lend some credence that Sekiro will be a bit more than a “realistic” change from From Software, especially when compared to Ghosts of Tsushima, one of the three different samurai games that are going to be coming out over the next few years. However, considering we haven’t seen very much gameplay of the game at all, Sekiro’s dark secrets may not be so hidden after all. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is going to be released on the Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC sometime in early 2019, so that gives From Software plenty of time to actually show us what sort of dark, hidden secrets that Sekiro has. Whether it will turn out to be a Soulsborne game in surprise remains to be seen.