WEEKLY TRENDING NEWS – 20/08/2023

By Nikola Hristov

Welcome back, everybody! In this weekly roundup of all the trending news from the past seven days we have compiled everything that's important for you to stay up to date! What exactly is happening in the online space, and what can you expect from your beloved franchises in the future? Well, let's find out right now!

1. Red Dead Redemption port specs officially revealed

The rather disappointing announcement about the RDR1 port not being a remaster was unfortunately not the end of bad news. The game is officially out today and you can play it on PS4 and PS5, as well as Nintendo Switch. Though on the PS4 Pro and the PS5 the game reaches 4K resolution, which is a nice graphical update, the PS4 and Switch weren't so lucky - and are capped at 1080p due to hardware restrictions. But the most unfortunate news is that no matter where you download the game, you can never enjoy it in fluid 60 FPS gameplay - instead you're stuck on 30. This isn't the end of the world as some of the best games of all time still run at 30 FPS only (Bloodborne for example), but it is rather annoying. The game also doesn't have a PC port so emulating it is your only option for a better performance.

2. Surprising announcement about modded GTA multiplayer

On a more positive note about Rockstar, they've announced that they've begun working with the teams behind the popular roleplay servers FiveM and RedM. Despite the game being released so long ago, FiveM still sees thousands of players daily and is extremely popular for streaming platforms. It's undoubtedly one of the best ways to enjoy GTA multiplayer. This announcement means that Rockstar are probably planning to improve and integrate the features of GTA roleplay servers in the actual official Online mode, so this is great news for the future of the game, even past GTA 6.

3. Baldur's Gate 3 pre-load times announced for PS5

One of the hottest titles right now, BG3 is coming to PS5 at the beginning of next month, and Larian have given us details regarding the pre-loading of this massive RPG adventure. For fans who have pre-ordered the Digital Deluxe Edition of the game, you will be able to begin pre-downloading on the 31st of August, and eventually play the game 4 days early on September 2nd. For most other players with the Standard Edition, pre-loading begins Sep. 4, with the game officially out on the 6th. Both pre-download days begin at 16:00 UTC, so mark your calendars for one of the best games of 2023!

4. Accessibility feature of Marvel's Spider-Man 2 allows you to slow down gameplay - including combat

Gaming should be for everyone - no matter what they're able or unable to do. This is a sentence that's very near and dear to Insomniac Games' hearts - as they've proven in the past. Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, which was praised universally for its accessibility features, had the option to slow down gameplay - which is obviously incredibly nice for children and people with disabilities. Allowing everyone to experience their games is a key aspect of why Insomniac keeps pushing these features to the next level - and Spider-Man 2 is no exception. The game will feature the option to slow down gameplay by 70%, 50%, and even 30% of its original speed, among many other improvements. Another such option is a screen reader, which reads aloud the options of the game. Seemingly everyone can play and enjoy this amazing sequel, coming on the 20th of October.  

5. The Arkham games are coming to Switch

Though this is not the first time a Batman game was on a Nintendo console, because Arkham City had a Wii U version, this trilogy is officially going to be on the Switch for the first time ever this October the 13th. For Switch owners who've never played the games, this is great news, because the Arkham trilogy is among the best not just superhero games, but gaming franchises in general. For everyone else however, we're kinda disappointed by what Rocksteady have been cooking with their Suicide Squad game and this announcement doesn't affect us in the slightest, since we already played these games on better hardware than the Switch. But if you've never experienced these masterpieces - do yourself a favor.

6. Assassin's Creed Mirage is launching a week earlier

Ubisoft have announced that AC Mirage has gone gold and is now coming a week earlier on October 5th. This is most likely due to the rather stacked second half of October, with goliaths such as Spider-Man 2 hitting the market. Nonetheless, the team is obviously very excited for us to explore 9th century Baghdad and has told us to mark the new date on our calendars. Is this finally going to redeem the Assassin's Creed franchise? I guess we'll have to wait until the start of October to see.

7. Overwatch 2 officially worst-reviewed game ever on Steam

Serves you right, Blizzard. In its first week and a half on Steam, Overwatch 2 has already lost a consistent 50 thousand playerbase, while the 'Overwhelmingly Negative' reviews continue to pile up. I dunno Blizzard, do you think mayhaps the fans aren't happy with the way you've monetized every aspect of the game - including the new story missions, which were so disappointingly boring anyways? It pains me to say this, as Overwatch is a game I have thousands of hours on (I played a lot back in 2017-2019) and it's incredibly sad to see the state it's currently in. The developers are obviously not happy with working on the game, some of them have even left, the players are annoyed beyond belief and the marketing executives keep pushing for more monetization, since the game doesn't earn as much as they would like it to. No one seems to know what to do. It's just simply…sad.

8. Barbie is now the highest grossing Warner Bros movie of all time

Greta Gerwig's movie has hit yet another milestone - it's officially the most financially successful movie from WB in North America - surpassing even Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight. The film is now well above 20 million more in revenue at the domestic box office, and over 200 million more worldwide. It's crazy to think, but this meme of a movie might secure the future of James Gunn's DC universe and any other project WB want to make. Don't get me wrong, the movie is fun and deserves it - it's just amusing to compare it to The Dark Knight which is one of the most serious and mature flicks of the past 2 decades. Anyways, Barbie is still in theaters - so if you want to, you can finance this success even further!

Well, that's about everything for this week's news! Stay tuned for more gaming reviews and articles regarding all your favorite franchises right here, on One Up Gaming.

Written by: Nikola Hristov