The Verge - Entertainments |
| Buy two Nintendo Switch games and get one free at Best Buy Posted: 04 Dec 2021 06:00 AM PST  Best Buy is still hosting its mix-and-match sale featuring some excellent titles from the Nintendo Switch game library. Right now you can get a third game of equal or lesser value for free if you buy two other select titles. This offer includes first-party titles like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Mario Tennis: Aces that rarely see discounts. While this offer is limited to 11 titles, this is one of the best ways to stock up on games that are exclusive to the Nintendo Switch. While not quite as enticing as Black Friday prices, Best Buy has discounted all models of the 11-inch iPad Pro that launched in 2020, with some versions receiving discounts of up to $200. This tablet is available with up to 1TB of built-in storage and comes with many of the same features you'll find on the latest version, except the M1 processor. This includes USB-C charging, a 120Hz refresh rate display, and dual-lens rear cameras. However, if you're in the market for something with a bit more screen real estate, Best Buy is offering similar discounts on 2020 model of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Read our review. The Brydge Pro Plus is a quick and easy way to transform your iPad into a MacBook. Currently, Brydge is offering the 11-inch version of this combination screen protector and keyboard for $120 and the 12.9-inch for $130, taking $30 and $40 off the regular prices, respectively. This case is designed to closely emulate the classic look and feel of the backlit keyboard on the MacBook Pro and even includes a trackpad in its list of features. Sam Byford noted in his review that the Brydge Pro Plus transforms the iPad Pro into a convenient laptop form factor, even though some of the gestures you can use on the Apple magic keyboard aren't available here. Ponder having your own personal orb that you can talk to with this sweet discount on the latest Echo Dot. This version of the spherical speaker is currently available at Amazon and Best Buy for $30, its lowest price ever. This omnidirectional speaker boasts all the functionality of previous Alexa-enabled speakers, just in a slightly more attractive form factor. It still features top-mounted touch controls, and is available in black, white, or blue. Read our review. This 32-inch curved Asus TUF Gaming Monitor is currently discounted to just $290 at Best Buy, taking $100 off the regular price. This monitor features a 165Hz refresh rate and 1440p resolution, as well as support for AMD FreeSync to help minimize screen tearing. This model features a pair of HDMI inputs as well as a DisplayPort jack, and a 3.5mm audio jack for headphones. The stand's height, tilt, and swivel can be adjusted, but the monitor also supports VESA mount, if you'd prefer a wall-mounted or arm-based solution. This is one of the better prices we've seen for a monitor with these specs. The 15-inch Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 gaming laptop is still discounted to its Black Friday price. Best Buy is offering this capable laptop for $1,900, knocking $300 off the regular retail price. This laptop comes equipped with a a QHD display, an RTX 3080, an AMD Ryzen 7 CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD for storage. Like virtually all of the gaming laptops available at Best Buy, the G15 also comes packaged with a free month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, a perfect combo for playing Halo Infinite on launch day. Monica Chin was thoroughly impressed with the Zephyrus G15 in her review (though she tested the RTX 3070 model), and it even occupies the top spot for our favorite gaming laptops. Unless you absolutely need a built-in webcam, which this model lacks, the Zephyrus G15 is otherwise an excellent choice for your next gaming laptop. A few more sweet deals for you
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| Call of Duty made $3 billion in 2020, so of course Activision Blizzard is laying off QA Posted: 03 Dec 2021 08:07 PM PST  One of the studios responsible for Call of Duty's success is laying off QA testers that are reportedly earning $17 an hour for their work on the franchise Activision Blizzard said brought in $3 billion dollars in 2020. Raven Software, known for its work on Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and CoD: Warzone has now laid off a third of its contract QA testers, according to reports by Kotaku and The Washington Post. Raven's Associate Community Manager Austin O'Brien said that team members were being called into individual meetings to be told whether or not they would still have a job come January 28th. So far, the company has reportedly laid off about a third of its QA testers, or around a dozen people, but it's possible more could follow. The Post quotes an anonymous Raven contractor who said that "everyone was told, 'you did nothing wrong,' after being given the bad news." A Better ABK, an employee advocacy group, says many of the employees moved to Wisconsin for the job, without receiving assistance from Activision Blizzard. O'Brien also tweeted that the company had been promising team members they would get raises after Activision (Raven's owner) completed a pay restructure, and that may be coming true in a cruel way: Kotaku reports that the workers who get to stay will receive a raise from $17 an hour to $18.50 an hour, along with better benefits and bonuses.
Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier tweeted that some testers he spoke to won't know their status until next week, which likely means they'll have to endure an uncomfortable weekend before they find out if they'll have to spend the holidays job hunting. One QA tester for the studio tweeted that they wouldn't know until Tuesday, and Kotaku reported that the studio's developers learned about the layoffs via word of mouth, instead of an official announcement.
Activision Blizzard has shown a pattern of laying off workers amidst booming business, as Kotaku points out. In 2019, the company laid off around 8 percent of its employees after CEO Bobby Kotick announced that its 2018 financial results were the best in the company's history. In June, Kotick reportedly received $155 million dollars after a shareholder vote — a few months before that, the company laid off around 50 employees that managed events, giving them three month's severance and $200 Battle.net gift cards. Gamesindustry.biz reports that Call of Duty: Vanguard, a game made by Sledgehammer Games and published by Activision, was the second largest game launch in 2021. Activision Blizzard has recently been in the spotlight for having terrible work conditions and for not acting on repeated claims of abuse and sexual assault from employees. There are also allegations that Kotick knew about the issues for years and had his own history of harassment. In less than a week, the company is set to release an expansion to Call of Duty: Warzone that ties into Vanguard. Activision didn't respond to The Verge's request for comment. |
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