Destiny Planet View is like Google Maps in space, with aliens

By Adam Rosenberg September 2, 2014

Read our full Destiny review.

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We’ve got just one more week before Bungie unleashes Destiny, but you can start exploring the game’s alien landscapes now with some help from the new Google Technologies-powered Destiny Planet View. Think Google Maps, but on Mars, Venus, and Earth’s moon.

It’s not quite as “3D” as Google Maps tends to be in real life, but that’s understandable given that Destiny Planet View was clearly patched together using in-game screens. It’s a nifty peek at some of the game’s more far-flung environments. You can explore the entire maps, but there’s enough to get a sense of what each planet looks like. There are also locations you can interact with to fill out more details surrounding Destiny‘s lore.

Related: Destiny takes the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge to the moon, where wizards come from

We haven’t fully explored Planet View yet, but the announcement email promises that “a few hidden real-world and in-game incentives” are hidden away on each map. So poke around carefully, and proceed slowly. It’s not like you’ve got anything better to do before Destiny comes to PlayStation and Xbox consoles on September 9, 2014, right?

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…

Gaming

Destiny 2 studio Bungie hit by layoffs, internal game delays

A runner runs in Marathon.

Amid a wave of layoffs at Destiny developer and Sony subsidiary Bungie this week, Destiny 2: The Final Shape and Marathon have both reportedly been delayed.
On Monday morning, tweets from developers revealed that Bungie, which was acquired by Sony in January 2022, was suffering layoffs. This was followed up by a report from Bloomberg that went into more detail about the layoffs and their impact on Bungie's future games. Sony and Bungie have not officially commented on the delays yet, although the Bloomberg article mentions that Bungie CEO Pete Parsons will hold a team meeting later today to discuss the layoffs further. This all follows contractor layoffs at Sony studio Naughty Dog earlier this month, which happened as that studio struggles to develop and release a The Last of Us multiplayer game.

Bloomberg suggests that these layoffs, like others at Sony this year, are tied to internal game delays. While Destiny 2: The Final Shape is publicly slated to come out in February 2024, Bungie reportedly told staff that it's now going to come out in June 2024. Meanwhile, we learned that Bungie's revival of Marathon was apparently targeting a 2024 launch -- although no release window was given officially -- but will now come out sometime in 2025. These delays make the PlayStation 5's 2024 game lineup look pretty sparse right now outside of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and it suggests that Destiny 2's next season will be one of its longest.
As of now, Sony and Bungie have not publicly commented on the layoffs or delays, but we will update this post when they do say more about it.

Gaming

Destiny 2: Lightfall fails to deliver its Avengers: Infinity War moment

A titan wielding a grenade launcher in Destiny 2..

The comparison between Destiny 2: Lightfall and Avengers: Infinity War is immediate from the opening moments of Bungie's latest expansion. There is no more exposition to get through; the Witness, a mythical villain that represents the root of the Darkness that Guardians have fought against for close to a decade, is here, and the Traveler who has given our heroes the Light and their god-like abilities is under direct threat. The stakes couldn't be higher, but Lightfall doesn't live up to that moment.

I'm not drawing connections here that shouldn't be made -- the bombastic opening moments of Lightfall call back Infinity War's unrelenting momentum in its first act. The Traveler is under siege in Lightfall and Guardians are dismantled by a flick of the Witness' wrist, echoing the immediate slaughter brought by the hands of Thanos moments before he arrived on Earth. That feeling is the same; our antagonist is here, and there's nowhere else to run. In the final moments of the campaign, a member of my fireteam even exclaimed, "hey, that's a line from Infinity War."

Gaming

Destiny 2: Where is Xur for the weekend of December 30

destinys weekend vendor xur extends stay psnxbox live hacks destiny

Seasoned Destiny 2 players know they can count on the elusive merchant Xur to make an appearance with special exotic items every Friday, but what's not so clear is where you'll be able to find him. Below, you'll find a map with a marker that indicates where Xur is, as well as a list of his wares.

Who is Xur?
If you're new to Destiny 2 and need a bit more information about how this works, you should know that Xur is a special vendor who sells exotic weapons and armor. Each week, he comes to the solar system with a slate of goods, including an exotic weapon and one piece of exotic armor for each character class. As of The Witch Queen, he now stocks legendary armor and weapons and sells additional exotic weapons with random rolls every week.
Where to find Xur (December 30 to January 2)
The trouble with Xur is finding him. We always know when Xur will show up -- at the 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET reset each Friday. The question is where Xur will be. Previously in Destiny 2, Xur’s location was marked on the map. He’s now unmarked and harder to find each weekend. Here’s where to go to track down Xur, the Agent of the Nine, as well as everything you need to know about what he’s offering this week.