Welcome to our video game news for week 43. I go back to basics in Overwatch, share four Fortnite Battle Royale tips of my own, and of course, I bring you all the best news that caught our attention at GeekDad this week in Re-Spawn.
Sam’s Video Game Tips
Fortnite Battle Royale Tips
My tips this week are pretty basic ones, but they come from harsh lessons learned this week.
First, take a screenshot of your custom settings prior to any game update. I was fine resetting my custom key bindings, those I remember well, but I am still trying to fix my mouse and scope sensitivities for Fortnite Battle Royale and I’m not there yet at all.
Second, rebind your keys for building so you can do it faster. Being able to build fast and accurate is clutch in this game, so make sure you can do it without thinking. They are by default bound to the F keys and even with my extremely long fingers, I have trouble reaching the Shift button (to sprint) at the same time as F3 to build a ramp while keeping W pressed to move forward. I have a Razer Naga mouse so I mapped the 3 basic build keys from F1, F2, and F3 to 7, 8, and 9 on my mouse.
Third, do not stand still while farming materials. Most of my kills in the game come from people just standing by a tree or rock banging away with their pickaxe and I take them down so fast. When I’m farming materials I crouch and jump all while constantly circling the item. I may get hit if someone spots me but I’m way more likely to survive the hit when I do.
Finally, in keeping with tips related to making sure you can hit the buttons you need as fast as possible, I use the number buttons on the Naga to switch my weapons instead of the keyboard number keys or mouse scroll. Oh, and I immediately rebound crouch from the mouse wheel to C. So find what you can comfortably reach on your keyboard/mouse and rebind to those.
Enough of my humble opinions, take a look at some gameplay from much better players than I am.
From Dakotaz, considered one of the best in the game you have Jump Pad Victory.
And another one I enjoy watching on Twitch is CDNThe3rd and he has a new clip reel up YouTube. Fair warning, he is R rated, so if you really don’t like cursing, ad hoc rapping, nor jokes about anatomical body parts, don’t click on this one. If you find those things funny by all means, click away.
And finally, Ninja is another extremely skilled player and you can catch his latest highlights in this video. Also some cursing in this one, so be warned.
Do you have some Fortnite Battle Royale tips to share? Hit us up in the comments, share them on Facebook with us, or give me a shout on Twitter, @samanthafisher. I’d love to reshare your tips with the GeekDad followers. Want to group up for some duo/squad action? Tag me on Twitter and we can give it a try.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Tips
I played a few more rounds of PUBG with GeekDad Randy Slavey this week. Holy smokes am I terrible at this game. I can’t quite figure out why but I get so nervous in this one. My adrenaline is way more elevated in PUBG than in Fortnite Battle Royale and I have no idea why. I have no tips of my own, but I was checking out some YouTube videos to watch to get tips for myself and I came across this one from LevelCapGaming. I’ll try to incorporate some of this into my next matches and let you know how things go.
Overwatch
Last week I shared how I finally got back to Overwatch after many weeks of not playing. I have played a few times since, and I have to confess: I’m not as good as I was. Nowhere near as good as I was before the break. So, what’s a girl to do? Go back to the basics, that’s what. I’d used a few how-to videos on YouTube in the past to fine tune my skills and I went back to those to refresh my memory on the drills I used to do. This video from Skyline is a great one to show you some drills to work on your accuracy.
It is easy to forget that the practice range in Overwatch is a HUGE benefit to players who actually care about getting better. There are stages to the practice range, as well. Start with the close range stationary bots, then move on to the ones still stationary but farther away, then to the somewhat free range ones to the far right.
One tip that I caught rather randomly in a video some time ago that has been very helpful for me is to aim for the neck, not the head. Even if you’re trying for headshots you’ll simply land more shots more often if you aim for the neck because if you hit, great you were on the target and it will do damage. If you miss where you were aiming, though you still may land a good hit because you can miss high and land a headshot or you can miss low and still get a good body shot in.
Video Game News Recap
Fortnite
Curious about what exactly changed in the most recent patch? Here is a link to the patch notes, with a section for both PvE and Battle Royale.
Blizzard’s Latest Video Game News
Overwatch
I’m actually a few days late on sharing this one, but make sure you’ve read the latest Overwatch Tale: The Return of Junkenstein. And get into the game and get a few loot boxes before it is too late.
Diablo III
Rumor has it the Treasure Goblin Academy has been holding self-defense training classes and our favorite little giggly loot droppers will be practicing the buddy system. From November 6th – November 9th treasure goblins will be arriving in pairs.
Hearthstone
Gifting is now live within the Battle.net app and to celebrate Blizzard sent everyone a free card pack for Hearthstone. Make sure you pick your pack up soon.
Xbox’s Latest Video Game News
Xbox does a weekly video and written recap of all the major news from their individual press releases and blog posts. Here you can find the video or follow this link to read the recap. Lots of new games available for backward compatibility and the ability to allow Mixer watchers to interact with your Minecraft game live during your stream are some of the highlights but click the link above or watch the video below for all the details.
Upcoming Games on Xbox
Xbox has 14 new video games releasing next week.
Beast Quest
Rush: A Disney/Pixar Adventure (Re-Release for Xbox One)
Other Video Games releasing on Xbox One Next Week
- Zoo Tycoon: Ultimate Animal Collection
- Spintires: Mudrunner
- Disneyland Adventures
- 8-Bit: Adventure Anthology: Volume One
- Maria the Witch
- Dying Reborn
- Dead Exit
- Numantia
- Call of Duty: WWII
- Steven Universe: Save the Light
- Mutant Football League
- 99Vidas
Xbox Games with Gold
- Gone Home (10/01 – 10/31)
- The Turing Text (10/16 – 11/15)
- Medal of Honor: Airborne (10/16 – 10/31)
- Nights into Dream (11/01 – 11/15)
- Trackmania Turbo (11/01 – 11/30)
- Deadfall Adventures (11/16 – 11/30)
- Tales from the Borderlands (11/16 – 12/15)
You can check out the games on sale right now on the Deals With Gold page.
Nintendo’s Latest Video Game News
Nintendo Goes Spooky for Halloween
Take a moment to check out what sort of Halloween-themed fun Nintendo has in store for you with this blog post.
Hats Off to Super Mario Odyssey
Super Mario Odyssey is now out for your exploration fun. One of the new features with Odyssey is Mario can now use his hat to interact with the environment.
Nintendo Video Game Releases
You can view all the new releases as well as upcoming ones on this game store page.
PlayStation’s Latest Video Game News
This week’s The Drop highlights 10 new releases in the upcoming week.
Steven Universe: Save the Light
Call of Duty: WWII
Graphic Content Warning
PlayStation’s Other New Video Games For Next Week
- .Hack//G.U. Last Recode
- 8-Bit Adventure Anthology: Volume I
- Ben 10
- Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back
- Pox Nora
- Rabi-Rabi
- Sokaban Next
- Spintires: MudRunner
PlayStation Plus Free Games for October
- Amnesia: Collection
- Hustle Kings
- Hue
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
- Monster Jam Battlegrounds
- Sky Force Anniversary
- That’s You!
Steam’s Latest Video Game News
Current pricing specials can be found on the Specials page. This page is updated frequently so check back often.
New releases and upcoming releases are available on the Steam Games page.
GeekMom and GeekDad Recent Video Game Articles
GeekMoms and GeekDads often write about video games and related items. It has been a quiet week for video games on the site, but here is what we have since I last recapped things:
- GeekDad Z. – “Fantastic Voyage: GeekDad Reviews ‘Super Mario Odyssey’“
- GeekDad Z. – “GeekDad Review: ‘Fire Emblem Warriors’ Is Controlled Chaos at Its Finest“
Interested in bookmarking Re-Spawn so you can find all the weekly updates in one spot? Here’s a link to the Re-Spawn archives on GeekDad.
Below are the video games some of the Geek Parents have been playing lately.
Samantha Fisher:
- Fortnite Battle Royale (PC)
- Fortnite (PC)
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PC)
- Diablo 3 (PC)
- Overwatch (PC)
- Hey! Pikmin (2DS XL)
Ryan Hiller:
- Minecraft (OSX)
Anthony Karcz:
- Hearthstone (iOS)
- Marvel Puzzle Quest (iOS)
- Transformers: Forged to Fight (iOS)
- Smash Up (iOS)
Z.:
- Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
- Fire Emblem Warriors (Switch)
- Friday the 13th: The Game (PS4)
- 2nd Super Robot Wars (Game Boy)
- Korokoro Kirby (Game Boy Color)
- Dead by Daylight (PS4)
Michael LeSauvage:
- Steamworld Dig 2 (Switch)
- Legends: Heroes of Skyrim (iOS)
Evil Genius Mum:
- Projection (Steam)
- Forts (Steam)
- Damsel (Steam)
- Sea of Thieves (Xbox One)
- Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
Randy Slavey:
- Fortnite Battle Royale (PC)
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PC)
Will James:
- Assassin’s Creed: Origins (Xbox One)
- Transformers: Earth Battles (iOS)
- Star Wars: Force Arena (iOS)
- Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes (iOS)
