amazon – KnowTechie https://knowtechie.com Tech News, Reviews, and How-To's for the Non-Techie Thu, 17 Aug 2023 06:55:23 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://knowtechie.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/cropped-LOGO-ICON-KNOW-TECHIE-FINAL01-01-COLOR-32x32.png amazon – KnowTechie https://knowtechie.com 32 32 Sony’s PlayStation 5 falls to its lowest price to date, so hurry https://knowtechie.com/sonys-playstation-5-falls-to-its-lowest-price-to-date-so-hurry/ https://knowtechie.com/sonys-playstation-5-falls-to-its-lowest-price-to-date-so-hurry/#respond Tue, 15 Aug 2023 12:25:16 +0000 https://knowtechie.com/?p=313665 This is a limited-time offer, so expect these to fly off the store shelves faster. Be sure to check the retailer's website for the most up-to-date information.

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If you’ve been holding out for a deal on the PlayStation 5, now is the time to pounce.

The gaming gods have smiled upon us, and the price of the console has dropped to its lowest point yet.

You can snag the PS5 for just $440 at Monoprice or $450 at Best Buy, a significant discount from its usual $500 price tag. But as with all good things, this deal won’t last forever, so you better act fast!

Sony PlayStation 5

The Sony PlayStation 5 is a next-generation gaming console that offers lightning-fast load times, stunning visuals, and immersive gameplay experiences. With its solid-state drive, 4K resolution support, and innovative DualSense controller, the PS5 delivers an unparalleled gaming experience.

Check Availability See at Best Buy
KnowTechie is supported by its audience, so if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale.

The PlayStation 5 needs no introduction. It’s the next-gen gaming console that has been making waves since its release. With its powerful hardware and innovative features, it’s no wonder gamers everywhere are clamoring to get their hands on one.

One of the standout features of the PS5 is its lightning-fast load times, thanks to its solid-state drive (SSD).

Say goodbye to those agonizingly long loading screens and hello to seamless gaming experiences. The console also boasts stunning visuals with support for 4K resolution and ray tracing, bringing games to life like never before.

But it’s not just about the visuals. The PS5 introduces the DualSense controller, which offers haptic feedback and adaptive triggers.

This means you’ll feel every explosion, kick, and punch in your hands, immersing you even further into the gaming world.

NOTE: This is a limited-time offer, and prices are subject to change. Be sure to check the retailer’s website for the most up-to-date information.

And let’s not forget about the extensive library of games available for the PS5. From action-packed adventures to immersive RPGs, there’s something for everyone.

Plus, with backward compatibility, you can still enjoy your favorite PS4 games on the new console.

If you’ve been on the fence about getting a PlayStation 5, this deal might be the push you needed. With its lowest price yet, it’s an opportunity you don’t want to miss.

So hurry, grab your wallet, and get ready to level up your gaming experience with the Sony PlayStation 5.

Sony PlayStation 5 Sony PlayStation 5

The Sony PlayStation 5 is a next-generation gaming console that offers lightning-fast load times, stunning visuals, and immersive gameplay experiences. With its solid-state drive, 4K resolution support, and innovative DualSense controller, the PS5 delivers an unparalleled gaming experience.

Deal Rating:
4.5
What We Like:
  • Unmatched Performance: The PS5's powerful hardware and SSD ensure lightning-fast load times and seamless gameplay, taking your gaming experience to new heights.
  • Immersive Visuals: Experience games like never before with the PS5's support for 4K resolution and ray tracing, delivering stunning visuals that bring the virtual world to life.
  • Innovative Features: The DualSense controller with haptic feedback and adaptive triggers adds a new layer of immersion, making every gaming moment feel more realistic and engaging. Don't miss out on this limited-time deal to elevate your gaming experience.
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Panera Bread will soon let people pay with their palms https://knowtechie.com/panera-bread-will-soon-let-people-pay-with-their-palms/ https://knowtechie.com/panera-bread-will-soon-let-people-pay-with-their-palms/#respond Tue, 28 Mar 2023 13:38:20 +0000 https://knowtechie.com/?p=284316 Panera's system is based on the Amazon One palm-scanning tech.

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Select Panera Bread locations will soon let people checkout with a new payment method – their palms.

Announced recently in a press release, Panera Bread is rolling out some of Amazon One’s tech to bring palm-scanning technology into the chain restaurant.

Account setup reportedly takes only a minute, and once set up, customers can access their MyPanera loyalty program and pay for their food.

Here’s how Panera puts it in their press release:

“After a simple scan of the palm, Panera associates will be able to greet guests by name, communicate their available rewards, reorder their favorite menu items, or take another order of their choice, extending the guest experience into a true and meaningful relationship. When they are done ordering, guests can simply scan their palm again to pay.”

Amazon first introduced its palm-scanning tech in 2020 during the pandemic as a way to reduce the number of times people come in contact with each other.

It is available at Amazon Go locations and select Whole Foods locations.

The convenience of Amazon’s palm-scanning technology is nice, but not without its faults

In August 2021, several US senators spoke out against Amazon’s palm-reading technology. Essentially, they are concerned about the amount of data collected and how that data is stored.

“Amazon One users may experience harms if their data is not kept secure. In contrast with biometric systems like Apple’s Face ID and Touch ID or Samsung Pass, which store biometric information on a user’s device, Amazon One reportedly uploads biometric information to the cloud, raising unique security risks…Data security is particularly important when it comes to immutable customer data, like palm prints.”

It’s definitely a fair concern, but like many things, it is two-fold.

Yes, Face ID and Samsung Pass information are stored on the device and not on servers. That’s a good thing. But Panera’s palm-reading stations are just out in the open and accessible by nearly anyone.

amazon one palm scanner
Image: Amazon

It wouldn’t make sense to store sensitive information on-device in this case. It’s a give and take, and it is up to the individual to decide if convenience is worth the privacy cost.

At present, Panera has introduced the palm-scanning tech at select bakeries in St. Louis. More stores are planned in the coming months, but there has been no word on the exact locations.

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Logitech’s G CLOUD gaming handheld launches October 17 https://knowtechie.com/logitechs-g-cloud-gaming-handheld-launches-october-17/ Wed, 21 Sep 2022 19:16:56 +0000 https://knowtechie.com/?p=241127 This can be an awesome little gaming console.

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Logitech’s cloud gaming handheld is launching on October 18 in the US. First leaked a few weeks back, the G CLOUD gaming handheld is real, about to launch, and will cost $350.

The Microsoft Store has a $50 discount for preordering Logitech’s cloud gaming handheld. In a post announcing the new handheld, Catherine Gluckstein, VP of Xbox Cloud Gaming, said that “we’re always looking to make gaming available to more people in more ways.”

The G CLOUD gaming handheld works with Xbox Cloud Gaming to stream hundreds of titles wherever you have an internet connection.

Microsoft also worked with Logitech to ensure that Remote Play works as advertised, so you can stream your Xbox games from your console to your handheld.

What we know about Logitech’s G Cloud Gaming Handheld

This is the same handset that Logitech announced a partnership with Tencent. It features a 7-inch touchscreen display at 1080p and 60Hz, with asymmetrical controls like an Xbox controller.

In addition, it also has gyroscopic controls and remappable buttons. It weighs 463 grams, which is somewhere in between the Nintendo Switch and Valve’s Steam Deck.

The handheld doesn’t only play Xbox Cloud Gaming titles. It’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G, runs Android, and has full access to the Google Play Store.

logitech g cloud gaming handeld
Image: Logitech

Nvidia’s GeForce Now, Steam Link, Google Stadia, and even Amazon Luna are all supported. It also has Netflix, other streaming services, and emulator support.

This can be an awesome little gaming console. However, the only thing we don’t know is how much onboard storage space it will have, but it does have the option of expanding the storage via a microSD card.

You can preorder the Logitech G CLOUD gaming handheld from Logitech or Microsoft, where you’ll get a $50 discount for your wait. Microsoft says it’ll get to you as soon as October 19.

Have any thoughts on this? Carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Amazon’s Prime Air drone delivery service is taking flight in California https://knowtechie.com/amazons-prime-air-drone-delivery-service-is-taking-flight-in-california/ https://knowtechie.com/amazons-prime-air-drone-delivery-service-is-taking-flight-in-california/#respond Tue, 14 Jun 2022 05:12:11 +0000 https://knowtechie.com/?p=207146 The service is scheduled to start later this year.

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Amazon has been at work on bringing 30-minute drone deliveries to fruition since 2013. Former CEO Jeff Bezos hoped the service would launch in 2015. Amazon didn’t make that window, but the ecommerce giant now says its Prime Air service is almost ready.

Amazon customers in Lockeford, California will begin seeing Prime Air deliveries later this year. The company published a blog post lining out the specifics, which involve a ton of Amazon UAVs working their way to customers’ homes while carrying “thousands” of items.

It sounds cool, until an overzealous neighbor shoots one down, with your package in tow.

But that’s the kind of feedback Amazon is (probably) looking for with this test program. The retailer is looking to ask those who use the service what they think about it to help them “create a service that will safely scale to meet the needs of customers everywhere.”

It’s been a long time coming, though. Amazon offered some reasoning for why Prime Air has taken so long to deploy (aside from multiple drone crashes). The company states it has spent about a decade working on a drone service with an “industry-leading” navigation system.

It’s been a long road with plenty of setbacks. And there are still a few roadblocks in the way. Amazon has to earn Part 135 certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) before it can begin launching its drones.

Though it’s been quite some time since the Prime Air project was announced, it’s on the cusp of becoming realized. If all goes well, it should interesting to see a fleet of drones delivering packages to Amazon customers in California. First there, and then…the world?

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Amazon Glow is now available for everyone to buy https://knowtechie.com/amazon-glow-is-now-available-for-everyone-to-buy/ https://knowtechie.com/amazon-glow-is-now-available-for-everyone-to-buy/#respond Tue, 29 Mar 2022 15:50:55 +0000 https://knowtechie.com/?p=192753 If you live in the U.S., that is.

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UPDATE 10/5/2022 9:12 AM ET: Amazon is officially discontinuing its Glow video-calling device for kids, as the product never caught on with consumers.

“At Amazon we think big, experiment, and invest in new ideas to delight customers,” a company spokesperson said in a statement to KnowTechie.


“We also continually evaluate the progress and potential of our products to deliver customer value, and we regularly make adjustments based on those assessments. We will be sharing updates and guidance with Glow customers soon.” The original story follows below.

Original Story: Amazon Glow, the company’s $300 video calling device for families, is now available without an invite. The hybrid video projector/video calling booth is one of the more interesting devices Amazon has released recently.

The eight-inch, portrait orientation screen shows who you’re video calling. That’s a neat tool, but the really cool thing is the projector that turns the surface you put it on into a 19-inch touchscreen.

That screen can display games, puzzles, and books, all aimed at interacting with the person on the other end of the call.

Anyone buying the Glow also gets a one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+, which has “nearly 100 games and visual arts activities” that can be done on the Glow. That’s in addition to the thousands of books and games already available.

Only the household with the kid needs the Glow device, while family members can use either the latest Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet or their own devices with the iOS or Android apps. The other device shows what the kid is looking at, so everything can be shared.

Earlier reviews of the Amazon Glow were mixed, but only because it was buggy back then. TechCrunch notes that “it’s gotten better,” so maybe those early bugs have been rectified.

You can get the $300 Amazon Glow from Amazon, Target, or Best Buy. Amazon also offers bundles with a Fire HD 10 Tablet for $380, and with the Tangram Bits for $330.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

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Amazon’s Luna game streaming service is finally available in the US https://knowtechie.com/amazons-luna-game-streaming-service-is-finally-available-in-the-us/ https://knowtechie.com/amazons-luna-game-streaming-service-is-finally-available-in-the-us/#respond Tue, 01 Mar 2022 21:11:15 +0000 https://knowtechie.com/?p=188268 The official launch brings a couple of new features and three new Gaming Channels.

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Amazon has taken another big leap in its journey through the gaming world. Today, the company announced that its cloud gaming service, Amazon Luna, is officially available today to everyone in the mainland United States.

After spending the last year in an early access period, Amazon shared the good news of the Luna launch on its website this morning. In addition to officially launching the service, the company has also added a few new features and subscription plans, called Gaming Channels.

As part of the launch, Luna has added a new, easy way for gamers to livestream their gameplay to Twitch through the Luna platform.

luna broadcast to twitch
Image: Amazon

READ MORE: Will game streaming finally kill single-game purchases?

You can also use your phone as a controller when playing Luna on a Fire TV using the Luna Controller app for iOS or Android. That sounds like it could be super convenient. Although, I’m not sure how well a phone will work as a game controller in more complex games.

Amazon has added new gaming channels to Luna

In addition to the new features that came with the official Luna launch, Amazon has added three new Gaming Channels for users to try.

Gaming Channels are subscription plans that unlock games for you to play on Amazon Luna. You can subscribe to different categories on a monthly basis to unlock various games.

The latest channels introduced include the Retro Channel. It’s full of classic, old-school games, like Street Fighter II and Castlevania Anniversary Collection.

Then there’s the Jackbox Games Channel, which features a bunch of games from developer Jackbox Games. Both of these new channels are $4.99 per month.

But the rest of the available Amazon Luna Gaming Channels vary in price, depending on which games they feature.

luna prime gaming channel
Image: Amazon

The last Channel that was recently added is the Prime Gaming Channel. This channel is exclusively for Prime members and doesn’t cost anything, as long as you have an active Prime membership.

The Prime Gaming Channel will feature a rotating list of games. Right now, Prime members can play Devil May Cry 5, Observer, System Redux, PHOGS!, and Flashback. Immortals Fenyx Rising will be available on the channel from March 8 to March 14, and there will be new games rotated regularly.

This is definitely some exciting news in the gaming world. It will be interesting to see how popular Luna becomes with this official release.

I know I’ll be putting my Prime subscription to good use over the next few weeks to see what Amazon Luna is all about. Check it out for yourself at the Luna landing page here.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

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What is this Lost Ark game and why is it suddenly blowing up? https://knowtechie.com/what-is-this-lost-ark-game-and-why-is-it-suddenly-blowing-up/ https://knowtechie.com/what-is-this-lost-ark-game-and-why-is-it-suddenly-blowing-up/#respond Mon, 14 Feb 2022 14:13:08 +0000 https://knowtechie.com/?p=185687 The game reached number two on the Steam charts in its first weekend.

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Over the weekend, Amazon finally released the highly anticipated MMO Lost Ark in the West. In just that short amount of time, the game has seen incredible success. It has already worked its way up to number two in the all-time leaderboard of most concurrent players on Steam.

Lost Ark has been around, at least in some capacity, for a couple of years already. The free-to-play, Diablo-like MMO launched in Korea back in 2019, and it became an instant hit. The game received six different awards at the 2019 Korea Game Awards, including the show’s “Presidential Prize.”

The game’s developers teamed up with Amazon to finally publish the game in the Americas and Europe on February 11. In the three days since its launch, Lost Ark has already bullied its way up the Steam charts, reaching a whopping 1.3 million concurrent players.

That puts the game ahead of such Steam classics like Dota 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

It’s still a long way from the incredible peak of 3.2 million concurrent viewers in the number one spot, which is held by PUBG: Battlegrounds. It would be an impressive feat if Lost Ark is able to make its way to that number.

Still, grabbing the number two spot in just a few days is quite amazing. Again, gamers have been anticipating this game for a while now. But that is still a spectacular achievement.

lost ark gameplay
Image: Smilegate

This isn’t Amazon’s first trip near the top of the Steam charts either. The company’s debut MMO, New World, worked its way up the number six in the all-time charts.

But Amazon Games developed New World itself. It quickly fell off from its powerful start on the Steam charts, and now sits at right around 20k concurrent players. Lost Ark is being developed by Smilegate RPG, so hopefully, it doesn’t see the same fate that New World saw after the hype died down.

If you are interested in trying out the latest gaming sensation for yourself, head on over to Steam or Amazon and start downloading it. It’s free-to-play, so you have nothing to lose. And who knows, you might end up loving it.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

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How to check your Amazon gift card balance and reload it https://knowtechie.com/how-to-check-your-amazon-gift-card-balance-and-reload-your-card/ https://knowtechie.com/how-to-check-your-amazon-gift-card-balance-and-reload-your-card/#respond Mon, 22 Nov 2021 17:25:26 +0000 https://knowtechie.com/?p=170904 Want to reload your Amazon gift card or just check the balance? Here's how to do that.

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Do you have forgotten funds sitting in your Amazon account? There’s a simple way to find out: check your Amazon gift card balance.

Are you tired of not having a viable payment method ready when you need to make an urgent purchase? There’s a solution for that, too: add funds to your account so you’re always ready for action.

A diligent online shopper is always prepared, and the company makes checking your Amazon gift card balance simple, and reloading funds is hardly a chore either. Let’s take a look at the process for each task.

Check your Amazon gift card balance on the website

amazon gift card redemption on web
Image: KnowTechie

You can check your Amazon gift card balance through the website with a few simple steps:

  1. Go to Your Account at Amazon.com
  2. Click the Gift cards panel and sign in if prompted

That’s it. Your current balance should appear on the page.

Check your balance with the app

With a few quick taps, you can also check your Amazon gift card balance in the app:

  1. Launch the Amazon Shopping app
how to redeem amazon gift card through app
Image: KnowTechie

2. Tap the main (hamburger) menu and select Your Account

how to redeem amazon gift card through app
Image: KnowTechie

3. Tap Manage gift card balance

how to redeem amazon gift card through app
Image: KnowTechie

Your current balance should now appear on-screen.

Manually reload your Amazon gift card

amazon reload gift card
Image: KnowTechie

Amazon touts using a gift card balance for purchases as a way to hasten the checkout process and make budgeting easier. Allegedly, adding a predetermined amount of funds to your account at certain times can help you control your spending.

However, the simplicity of the reloading process makes that seem unlikely. If you run out of funds, you can easily add more.

Here’s how you can manually reload your Amazon gift card:

  1. Go to the Amazon Reload page
  2. Select or enter the amount you want to reload and click Buy Now
  3. Complete the payment process

Automatically reload your Amazon gift card

If you don’t want to manually add more money to your gift card balance, you can opt for an automatic solution. During setup, you’ll have the option to either boost your balance on a schedule or when funds get low.

To set up automatic reloading for your Amazon gift card balance, follow these steps:

  1. Go to the Amazon Reload page

  2. Click Set up Auto-Reload below the Buy Now buttonamazon reload gift card

  3. Choose to either reload on a schedule or when your balance gets low

  4. Fill in the required information and complete the payment process

Check, reload, and spend your balance

Checking and reloading your balance is hardly the fun part. Once you’ve configured your account in a way that works for you, you’ll be an unstoppable online shopping machine.

This, granted, is what Amazon wants, and why it tries to give you plenty of options when it comes to spending money.

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Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

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How to redeem an Amazon gift card with the app or website https://knowtechie.com/how-to-redeem-an-amazon-gift-card-with-the-app-or-website/ https://knowtechie.com/how-to-redeem-an-amazon-gift-card-with-the-app-or-website/#respond Mon, 22 Nov 2021 15:39:53 +0000 https://knowtechie.com/?p=170892 Amazon's website and app can be tough to navigate. We've got you covered.

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If you’ve received an Amazon gift card, you’ll need to redeem it before you can use the balance. However, some apps and websites can be a mess of menus, and finding the appropriate place can involve a lot of head-scratching and wasted time.

Perhaps you’ve got better things to do than analyze Amazon’s menus and solve riddles. If so, we can help guide you through the redemption process.

To save you from getting lost along the way, we’ve outlined the steps you can take to redeem an Amazon gift card with the app or website. Both methods are quick and painless once you have the know-how, so the choice is yours.

Redeem an Amazon gift card with the app

Before claiming the balance of your card, you’ll need to locate your redemption code. You’ll either find this in an email if you went digital or on the back of a physical card.

Once you have the claim code, you can redeem your Amazon gift card with the app using these steps:

  1. Launch the Amazon app
how to redeem amazon gift card through app
Image: KnowTechie

2. Tap the main (hamburger) menu and select Your Account

how to redeem amazon gift card through app
Image: KnowTechie

3. Tap Manage gift card balance

how to redeem amazon gift card through app
Image: KnowTechie

4. Tap Redeem a gift card

how to redeem amazon gift card through app
Image: KnowTechie

5. Scan or enter your claim code and tap Apply to your account

how to redeem amazon gift card through app
Image: KnowTechie

Alternatively, you can enter your claim code at checkout to apply the balance directly to a purchase. This method also works on the Amazon website.

Redeem an Amazon gift card on the website

If you’d prefer to use the website to redeem your Amazon gift card, you can do so using these steps:

  1. Go to Your Account at Amazon.com

  2. Click the Gift cards panel and sign in if promptedamazon gift card redemption on web

  3. Click Redeem a Gift Cardamazon gift card redemption on web

  4. Enter your claim code and click Apply to your balanceamazon gift card redemption on web

From the Gift cards page, you may have noticed that you can also check your account balance at any time, which is handy to remember.

Beat Amazon’s menu maze

Navigating the maze of Amazon menus is easy when you know the right path to take. After you redeem a card or two, the process will stick in your mind.

And once you recall the route, you can then help others get where they want to go or sit back and watch them suffer, totally up to you.

Editors’ Recommendations:

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

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New World: Everything you need to know about Amazon’s new hit MMO game https://knowtechie.com/heres-everything-you-need-to-know-about-new-world/ https://knowtechie.com/heres-everything-you-need-to-know-about-new-world/#respond Wed, 29 Sep 2021 19:48:32 +0000 https://knowtechie.com/?p=163630 Looking for a new MMO to lose months in? New World might be what you've been waiting for.

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When you think of MMO (massively multiplayer online) games, World of Warcraft is often the first title that comes to mind. Blizzard’s planet-dominating title is a billion-dollar business, though, so this isn’t exactly surprising.

There have been plenty of pretenders to WoW’s throne, but nothing has come close to capturing such a large player base. Even Star Wars: The Old Republic and The Elder Scrolls Online didn’t manage to put a dent in the armor. Final Fantasy XIV is trucking along, but can’t really compete with the longevity that WoW has experienced yet.

With such a lead over the entire market, it’s going to take a company with deep pockets to even come close in 2021. Enter Amazon Games and their latest big-hitter, New World.

Here’s everything you need to know about it.

Look back to move forward

new world mmo gameplay
Image: Amazon

To really understand what makes New World so interesting, you have to dig a little into the history of Amazon Games. After announcing a move away from the mobile games market in 2014, nothing really happened until 2016, when a trio of titles was announced: Breakaway, Crucible, and the subject of this article, New World.

No longer would we have to endure poor, money-grabbing casual games. We’d finally be able to play AAA titles that would compete with money-grabbers from the likes of Ubisoft instead! It didn’t exactly go to plan though. Breakaway was canceled in 2018, and Crucible lasted just seven months before Amazon Games killed it.

Even New World has been delayed multiple times. It should have been released in May 2020! Basically, New World has become a big, big risk that may make Amazon Games reconsider its place in the market if it doesn’t succeed.

What is New World?

It’s an MMO, so without being too cynical, it hits plenty of the box-tickers you’d expect to see. Large, varied environments? Check. PvP (player-versus-player?) Check. PvE (player-versus environment?) Check. Deep, branching skill trees? Check.

Several player and NPC factions with different loyalties, enemies, motivations, and a mutual penchant for war? Check, check, check, and check.

This is both a good and a bad thing. Newcomers to the genre should find that the familiar tropes make it a little easier to get into. However, long-time fans might be left spinning their wheels until they reach the endgame content.

The story

It’s in the story where New World starts to set itself apart. Set on Aeternum, a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean, your goal is to colonize the place. Unlike real-world missionaries, you won’t be bringing the words of magic sky daddies with you. You will however find actual magic, known as Azoth. This fun substance makes the plants and animals treat you as a threat, so they all want to extinguish your existence.

As an added bonus it also revives the dead explorers who came before you. They’ll want you dead, too. The only way to survive will be harnessing the power of Azoth to defend yourself.

READ MORE: Final Fantasy XIV is so popular that Square Enix is telling people to stop buying it

Anyway, you choose your faction – The Marauders, The Syndicate, or The Covenant – and from there you’ll separate into your chosen company, which is New World’s term for guilds and clans. After picking a side, you’ll make like the British Empire as you take settlements throughout Aeternum and transform them into bustling hives of scum and villainy. Or business, trade, and battle. Whatever.

Things would be pretty boring if that was it, wouldn’t they? Luckily, Amazon Games has this covered too, because once you’ve built a settlement, you’ll have to defend it, too. The Corrupted, The Lost, The Ancient, and The Angry Earth are all NPC factions that you’ll have to align with and fight against as the story evolves.

Gameplay

New World Req
New World System Requirements

A captivating story and a rich, magic-based system would be all for nothing if there wasn’t plenty of gameplay to keep you occupied. So let’s break down the different play modes.

Expeditions are the ‘traditional’ MMO dungeon experience. You and a crew of up to four partners combine in a hopefully unbeatable team. Enjoy plenty of exploration and lots of bad guys to farm XP from.

Maybe that sounds a little small-scale, though. Maybe you want to join in with War Mode. This is the PvP experience that online games can live or die by. Up to 100 players total jump in here and you’ll need to attack or defend a settlement.

Ok, ok, I get it. You’re hard to please. You want big, epic battles but don’t want to get shown up by other humans. In that case, hop into Invasion. This is where you’re placed into a team of 50 and forced to defend your faction’s fort against waves of computer-controlled enemies. Surviving for 30 minutes will grant you with a victory. It sounds a lot like Horde modes.

Finally, Outpost Rush is where everything combines into an MMO-themed homunculus. This is where you’ll be placed into a 20v20 battle to attack or defend an outpost. At the same time, you’ll also have to fight computer-controlled enemies. That’s right. PvPvE. Bring the chaos!

Does it have promise?

new world battle on steps
Image: KnowTechie

If the initial response is anything to go by, there’s a big possibility that New World is going to break new ground. It’s already (kind of) breaking the internet, as hundreds of thousands of people have been logged on and playing or queuing up to try it out. In fact, it’s currently sitting in fifth place for the most concurrent Steam players at one time, with more than 700,000. Less than a week after launch.

Obviously, only time will tell whether New World has the staying power to really make headway in this crowded space. We’ve seen the next big thing pop up time and time again, only to get stomped on by WoW (see: City of Heroes/Villains, The Matrix Online, Marvel Heroes, BSG Online, ESO, Final Fantasy XIV (sort of), and uh… Hello Kitty Online.)

What does give hope is the game’s Steam reviews. There has been a mix of responses, but a lot of the negative reviews are based on the long wait to get into it in the first place. Which must be incredibly frustrating for new players, but isn’t the worst issue Amazon Games could have.

New World – the verdict

If you can get into the game it seems like there are some really interesting systems at play here. But even if you can’t, the sheer number of users watching the game on Twitch is phenomenal, too. Almost 1 million viewers tuned in on September 28th.

New World definitely has the “it factor.” As we’ve said a couple of times, we can only wait to see what happens over the next few months. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to do what us English do best. Queue up and complain about it until I get to pick my faction.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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