The possibility of a Mortal Kombat/Street Fighter crossover game is an exciting-sounding proposition. But could it actually happen? NetherRealm boss Ed Boon has discussed the possibility.
In an interview with IGN, Boon said he understands fans might be interested in this, but added that the game might not be able to live up the hype.
"There's part of me that's like, 'That would be such a cool dream,' and then there's another part of me that goes, 'There's no way would that satisfy everybody,'" he said.
If Capcom ever came to NetherRealm to discuss such a project, Boon said he would "have to entertain it."
A potential crossover title would seemingly require not only some kind of business arrangement between Capcom and Mortal Kombat owner Warner Bros., but also some gameplay solutions. Boon pointed out that the two franchises have different flavors of fighting.
"There's different pacing, there's different fundamentals with both of them," Boon said.
There have been fighting game crossovers in the past, one example being Street Fighter x Tekken. According to Boon, this was not an ideal situation for either franchise. With a fighting game crossover, "one of the licenses... is going to have to sacrifice something," he said.
Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn has revealed that he was at one point interested in making a Hitman movie. Writing on Twitter today, Gunn said he wanted it to be rated R, but the producers wanted a lesser rating, presumably so it could reach a wider audience.
"I tried to make a Hitman movie a few years ago," he said. "But the producers at the time didn't want to make it R-rated, so they passed."
Gunn did not share any more details about the Hitman project he had ideas for.
This offer is available until next Tuesday, February 28, or whenever Newegg's supply runs out. Shipping is free and you may not have to pay tax.
Sony doesn't bundle the PS4 Pro with any games or other bonuses. It's also yet to offer any official deals on it, but we've now seen a few discounts and bundles like this, particularly over the last month. Sony currently has the standard PS4 version available for $50 off its usual price, dropping it to $250 for a limited time.
If you've passed on picking up a PS4 Pro previously, keep in mind that Sony recently revealed a Boost mode feature that potentially makes it a more worthwhile purchase. While currently only available as part of a beta system update, it can improve the performance of games that haven't been patched to take advantage of the Pro's added horsepower.
Once again, you can pick up an Xbox One S for $200.
This offer includes the white, 500 GB system that comes with Minecraft. While that's not the most expensive game to be bundled with an Xbox One, this is still an outstanding price for a new console.
It's available right now in the US through eBay from Newegg. Shipping is free and you may not have to pay tax. Only a limited number are available and we don't know when this will sell out, so you should act quickly if you're interested.
A new Rocket League update has arrived, adding support for PlayStation 4 Pro, new Hot Wheels DLC cars, and other Hot Wheels items, among other things. Here is a rundown of the new content:
Two Hot Wheels DLC Cars -- Twin Mill III and Bone Shaker. Available for $2 each.
Free Hot Wheels Content -- Get a Hot Wheels topper and antenna.
Other Items -- Free Treasure Hunt flag and Shark Bite topper.
Player's Choice Crate -- Includes "some of the community's favorite customization items."
As for the PS4 Pro update, it allows the game to run at 4K and 60 FPS on a PS4 Pro, or 1080p and 60 FPS on a standard PS4. This is true for every arena in the game in both single-screen and two-player split-screen modes. When playing split screen with three or four players, you'll see a 60 FPS framerate in "most arenas at the same resolutions," Sony said last week.
The full patch notes for today's Rocket League update can be seen below, as written by Psyonix.
Today's new DLC follows an announcement earlier in February that figurine company Zag Toys is producing a line a line of physical Rocket League toys.
Firaxis today announced some of the new content that's on the way to Civilization VI, including a free update and a premium DLC pack.
The DLC adds a new civilization, Australia, which makes its franchise debut. The nation is led by John Curtin, who was prime minister during the final four years of World War II before his death. His unique ability, Citadel of Civilization, doubles production if someone has declared war on Australia in the last 10 turns, or if it has liberated a city in the previous 20 turns.
The video above details the other things that set Australia apart in Civilization VI. Its unique ability provides it with bonus housing when a city is built on a coastal tile. Campuses, Commercial Hubs, Holy Sites, and Theater Squares all receive extra bonuses when they're constructed on tiles with Charming or Breathtaking-level appeal. Its unique tile improvement is the Outback Station, which provides food and production. Adjacent Pastures can be used to improve the yield of Outback Stations, while Pastures can trigger a culture bomb effect when they're first built.
Australia also replaces the standard Infantry unit with a unique one called the Digger, which receives a combat power buff when fighting outside of Australian territory or on land tiles adjacent to water.
A price or release date for this DLC wasn't announced. The Poland civilization DLC released in December, which also includes an additional scenario, costs $5.
Also on the way is a free update for the game that adds some new functionality. Steam Workshop support is coming, which will allow you to easily browse and install mods through Steam. The other major change is the ability to play as part of a team in multiplayer, both against the AI or other players.
These are described as "two of the community's most-requested features." They'll arrive alongside balance changes and bug fixes, though there were few details shared on this front. Firaxis said these range from "trade routes to ice caps, obsolete units to AI upgrades." More details will be shared at a "later time."
We may not have to wait too long for these details, as the free update arrives "soon."
2018's Star Wars Han Solo movie has officially begun production, Lucasfilm has announced. A new cast photo has been released to celebrate, showing off the stars, some of which were not confirmed until today.
Principal photography began on February 20 at Pinewood Studios in London, Lucasfilm said in a post on the Star Wars website.
As announced previously, the untitled Han Solo movie is set before the events of 1977's A New Hope. It will focus on Han Solo's "early encounters" with Lando Calrissian.
Han Solo is played by Alden Ehrenreich, while Donald Glover portrays Lando Calrissian. Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke is also in the movie, alongside Hunger Games actor Woody Harrelson, both in unspecified roles. Westworld actress Thandie Newton and Fleabag's Phoebe Waller-Bridge will appear in the movie as well, though their parts have not been announced.
Basketball player Joonas Suotamo plays Chewbacca.
"Watching such inspired people from all over the world, with such unique voices, come together for the sole purpose of making art, is nothing short of miraculous," directors Chris Lord and Phil Miller said in a statement. "We can't think of anything funny to say, because we just feel really moved, and really lucky."
The Han Solo movie opens on May 25, 2018. The next entry in the series is this year's Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which picks up immediately after 2015's The Force Awakens.
In the latest video game / toy crossover, you'll soon be able to buy Pokemon-themed Mega Bloks.
The toys, which you can see below (via Kotaku), will arrive at some point in 2017. So far we've seen Charmander, Charmeleon, Charizard, Squirtle, Wartortle, Bulbasaur, Magikarp, Gyarados, Eevee, Machop, Abra, Zubat, and--of course--Pikachu. It remains to be seen if any other monsters will be transformed into Mega Bloks.
Technically, the figures are called Mega Construx, the Mega Blok variant aimed towards older children and adults. Either way, they look pretty cool; check out the full gallery at Kotaku.
Sony's next big PlayStation 4 exclusive, Horizon Zero Dawn, launches next week. Now, a new report from SuperData claims the game--which is a brand-new franchise--may sell millions of copies this year and go on to become a hit on the level or close to Uncharted 4 and Metal Gear Solid V.
Horizon Zero Dawn will shift as many as 6 million copies by the end of 2017, SuperData said. Total sales could reach 8 million units, which would put it close to the most recent Uncharted and Metal Gear Solid games.
In its report, SuperData CEO Joost van Dreunen cited Horizon Zero Dawn's strong review scores from critics as an element that could help boost sales.
Finally, Dreunen said in the report that, helped by strong reviews, Horizon Zero Dawn may encourage newcomers to buy a PS4. Sony has sold around 54 million PS4s, while SuperData estimates that Microsoft's Xbox One has shifted 26 million. "The release of the game as a platform exclusive suggests that this gap will only widen as consumers flock to play Horizon Zero Dawn," he said.
Horizon Zero Dawn launches on February 28 in North America and March 1 in Europe. GameSpot's review scored it a 9/10. The game was created by Killzone studio Guerrilla Games.
In addition to strong review scores, a major marketing campaign may help Horizon Zero Dawn sell well. If you've turned on ESPN in the past week, you've surely seen an ad for the game. Ads are all over the internet, too.
Actress Uma Thurman could have appeared in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings series, as she was reportedly offered the role of Eowyn. Appearing on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert last night, Thurman discussed passing on the role, saying it was a huge personal regret.
"It was a very long time ago. I do consider it one of the worst decisions I've ever made," she said.
So why didn't she take the part? Thurman explained that she had just given birth to her first child and was feeling "a little house-bound" at the time.
The three Lord of the Rings movies were filmed simultaneously in New Zealand in the late '90s and early 2000. Some of the actors lived in the country for years during filming. It understandably sounds like Thurman, with her newborn child, was not sure if packing up her life and moving to New Zealand was the right choice for her family.
But looking back on it now, Thurman said it was definitely a regret to pass on the role.
Colbert, a huge Lord of the Rings fan himself, joked that he would have played Eowyn if the role was offered to him. The role went to Mirando Otto, who played the character in The Two Towers and Return of the King.
As with other big-time movies, there are a lot of interesting stories around casting for Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Daniel Day-Lewis, Russell Crowe, and Nicolas Cage turned down the role of Aragorn, while Sean Connery said no to playing Gandalf. Jake Gyllenhaal auditioned for Frodo.
Disclosure: The Late Show With Stephen Colbert airs on CBS, whose parent company, CBS Corp., owns GameSpot.
While we wait for James Cameron's Avatar sequels, Disney has now posted teaser videos for the attractions themed around the film franchise set to open this year. The Disney World rides are part of what Disney is calling "Pandora - The World of Avatar." The attractions will let people virtually explore Pandora, the planet where Avatar takes place. It remains to be seen how this will work, but one attraction, the Na'vi River Journey, looks like a new take on the "It's A Small World" ride, with guests sitting in a boat and traveling down a river.
Another ride, or "expedition," as Disney calls them, will let people virtually ride a flying banshee creature to "experience the vast natural world of Pandora in all of its glory." Check out the pair of teasers below.
"Pandora - The World of Avatar" opens at Disney World's Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Florida on May 27. More details can be found here at Disney's website.
It's been a long wait for the first Avatar sequel, as the James Cameron-directed film opened in 2009. There are four sequels on the way, the first of which may be ready for Christmas 2018.
"I've read all the scripts. They're great. This film is going to be like nothing you've ever seen. This is going to be Jake [Sully, Worthington's character] eight years later, and he's got a family now. The world is bigger than the first one, but essentially, it's a movie about family."
2009's Avatar stands as the highest-grossing movie in history, making $2.78 billion worldwide.
A new trailer for popular JRPG Persona 5 has emerged, showing off one familiar character.
The video, which you can watch below, spotlights the mysterious Igor, proprietor of the Velvet Room. This location is where the player can manage and fuse their Personas, and it is also shown off in the teaser. Take a look:
Caroline and Justine, the new Velvet Room assistants, are also showcased in the trailer, along with Persona 5's soundtrack. The video acts as an introduction to the mechanic of combining Personas, a vital ingredient in Persona 5. As always, the trailer also shows off the game's visual flair and stylish menus. They continue to look great.
Hellboy 3 is not happening. Director Guillermo Del Toro has confirmed that following discussions with creator Mike Mignola and star Ron Perlman, he won't be making a third movie in the fantasy series.
Del Toro took to Twitter to beak the news. He said: "Sorry to report: Spoke with all parties. Must report that 100% the sequel will not happen. And that is to be the final thing about it."
At the time, Del Toro wrote: "Will arrange the sit down with Ron and Mignola to talk HBIII. No guarantee but we will discuss. Wish us luck!!"
Del Toro directed the previous two parts of the series, 2004's Hellboy and 2008's Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Both he and Perlman had previously expressed a desire to make third film. In 2015, del Toro explained that part of the problem was budgetary. "The hard fact is that the movie's going to need about $120 million and there's nobody knocking down our doors to give it to us," he admitted during a Television Critic's Association Q&A.
"It's a little beyond Kickstarter. It would be great to complete the trilogy, but in a way I don't see the world--the industry--supporting that idea."
Hellboy first appeared in 1993, and has featured in a wide variety of regular comic books, miniseries, one-shots, and crossovers since then, published by Dark Horse Comics.
The newest patch for Final Fantasy XV arrived on Monday, promising to add an improved frame rate on PlayStation 4 Pro. Digital Foundry tested the patch and found that it does not help the game achieve 60 frames-per-second consistently. Additionally, the patch removes removes the 30 FPS cap from the game's "Lite" mode on PS4 Pro, which results in a "highly variable level of performance."
"As of now, there is no longer a way to enjoy Final Fantasy XV with a smooth, stable frame rate on the PS4 Pro," Digital Foundry said in a new video (below), as spotted by and reported on by Polygon. "Your only options are bad frame-pacing at a higher resolution or a wildly unstable unlocked frame rate. That's it."
Final Fantasy XV lets PS4 Pro users choose between "Lite" and "High" performance modes. Before the new patch, the Lite mode made Final Fantasy XV run at 1080p/30fps. The High mode made the resolution jump to 1800p with checkerboard rendering. With the update applied, the Lite mode retains its 1080p resolution, but the frame rate runs at around 40-50 fps, the same marks as in November. Only when you're staring at the ground will the game reach 60 fps on Lite mode, apparently.
The High mode doesn't fare much better, it seems, and could be a step backwards. Overall, the standard PlayStation 4 and Xbox One editions of the game are a better choice for players looking for the best technical experience, the site said.
"At this point, both the Xbox One and standard PlayStation 4 now provide a smoother experience," Digital Foundry said. "PS4 still exhibits minor frame-pacing issues but the problem is less pronounced than the Pro's flagship high mode. Xbox One uses an adaptive v-sync solution that produces completely smooth frame-pacing throughout, leading to a stable experience. There is additional slowdown on Xbox One and a lower resolution overall, but at this point, Microsoft's system still provides the most consistent frame rate.
"In some ways, patch 1.05 actually feels like a retrograde step as opposed to a desirable upgrade."
Alien: Covenant is the latest movie in the long-running franchise, and it hits theaters in May. We saw the first trailer in December, and now a new batch of images have been tweeted, including a behind-the-scenes shot of the movie's cast. Check them out in the gallery below:
Alien: Covenant is directed by Ridley Scott, who helmed the original 1979 Alien, as well as 2012's semi-prequel Prometheus. It stars Michael Fassbender, who reprises his role from Prometheus, alongside Katherine Waterston (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), Billy Crudup (Watchmen), Demian Bichir (The Hateful Eight), Danny McBride (Eastbound & Down), and James Franco (Spring Breakers).
In a recent Q&A, Scott spoke about the decision to return to the series. "I saw Alien finally succumb after four films, which was a good run," he said, via Digital Spy. "[But] then they also did Alien vs. Predator, after which I thought, 'Uh-oh, that's it.' I waited a couple of years, I went back and decided to resurrect it.
"No one actually asked where [the aliens] came from in the three subsequent movies, which is kind of ridiculous. That's why good writers are good writers, they'll ask a basic question like that and make that into a scenario."
DICE has posted the initial patch notes for Battlefield 1's newest update to the game's Community Test Environment (CTE), which is a testing server of sorts. Features and balance changes are tested on the CTE before being made available to all players.
Today's patch notes cover things like resupply changes (the resupply timers for grenades are being extended to prevent "excessive use"), tweaks for a number of weapons, and a huge nerf for fighter and attack planes. With the update applied, plane impact damage is reduced by 50 percent for fighter/attack planes and 40 percent for bombers. You can see a full rundown of the CTE patch notes below. Bear in mind that DICE could decide to roll back these changes or adjust them in other ways before release.
Battlefield 1's CTE is only available on PC (for now at least) and you must own the $50 Battlefield Premium pass to get in. You can find out more on how to register for the CTE here.
"We will keep monitoring latency levels and geographical coverage for the Battlefield franchise and are committed to delivering the best experience for all our players worldwide," DICE said.
Battlefield 1 CTE Patch Notes (February 21)
RESUPPLY CHANGES
As part of an ongoing effort to address excessive use of explosive gadgets and grenades, we changed the way grenades resupply for this release. The goal for these changes is to reduce the amount of grenades available while getting constantly resupplied, as it is common in choke points, without making resupplies unnecessarily long in other gameplay.
Similar to some gadgets, all grenades slowly resupply when out of ammo. This resupply is greatly sped up when near an ammo crate.
The resupply timers are as follows:
Frag: 36 seconds
Light AT: 36 seconds
Impact: 36 seconds
Incendiary: 36 seconds
Gas: 27 seconds
Mini: 24 seconds
Smoke: 18 seconds
Resupplies are 3 times as fast near ammo crates
Other changes:
Reduced Smoke, Gas and Mini Grenade ammo from 2 to 1
Ammo pouches currently no longer resupply grenades
CORE GAMEPLAY CHANGES
WEAPONS AND GADGETS
MG 08/15
Decreased horizontal recoil from 0.7 to 0.3
Full accuracy is reached one shot earlier
Fixed an issue where the MG 08/15 would overheat much faster on PS4 and XB1 than on PC and set the new overheat threshold to 67 bullets
Fixed bad reload timers on M1911 Extended:
Tactical reload time increased from 1.4 to 1.6 s
Empty reload time increased from 2.3 to 2.6 s
Reload threshold reduced from 1.1 to 0.78 s
Fixed staged reload timers
M1903 Experimental:
Reduced rate of fire from 450 to 360
Increased close range damage, allowing it to kill a healthy soldier with 4 hits within 16 meters
Self-Loading Rifles and Pieper M1893:
Made recoil decrease smoother
Most recoil values were tweaked, but are not comparable to previous releases
Updated the way the CONTROL value is calculated to better represent the amount of recoil that players have to compensate for
Self-Loading Rifles
Fixed an issue where spread would reset too quickly after firing
Reduced base spread increase per shot of self-loading rifles from 0.25 to 0.2
Decreased base spread decrease per second from 3.75 to 3
Decreased the spread increase per shot bonus in ADS that Marksman, Sniper and Optical versions get to maintain the old effective spread increase per shot values of 0.125
Added a small bonus to spread decrease per second for Marksman, Sniper and Optical versions
Reduced the number of magazines carried by the M97 Trench Gun by 1
LMGs:
Increased moving hipfire dispersion by 0.25 degrees
Fixed incorrect CONTROL values for Low Weight LMGs
Madsen MG:
Reduced first shot recoil multiplier from 1.9 to 1.8
Reduced horizontal recoil from 0.6 to 0.55
MP18:
Reduced vertical recoil from 0.38 to 0.35
Reduced Experimental third shot recoil multiplier from 1.8 to 1.5
Doubled Experimental spread decrease per second in ADS
Automatico M1918:
Reduced vertical recoil from 0.44 to 0.40
Increased horizontal recoil from 0.8 to 1.2
Increased Trench and Storm first shot recoil multiplier from 2.65 to 2.8
Decreased Factory first shot recoil recoil multiplier from 2.65 to 2.33
Increased Factory recoil decrease from 12 to 16
Increased Frommer Stop Auto horizontal recoil from 1.0 to 1.2
Hellriegel 1915:
Increased 1915 horizontal recoil from 0.8 to 0.95
Overheating now cancels ADS
Increased moving hipfire dispersion by 0.25 degrees
Grenades:
Increased Impact grenade minimum time before explosion from 0.7 to 1.0 seconds
Increased Incendiary grenade minimum time before explosion from 0.67 to 1.3 seconds
Increased Mini Grenade damage from 65 to 72
Decreased inner blast radius Light AT Grenades from 2.0 to 1.5
Decreased inner blast radius Assault AT Grenades to 1.5 from 2.0 Reduced Tripwire INC ammo from 2 to 1 to better account for its high damage and AOE
Crossbow:
The crossbow launcher now regenerates all its ammo even when not reloaded
Increased autoreplenish time from 15 to 25 seconds
K bullets now resupply in 2 s rather than 5
Reduced suppression by friendly gas and prevented coughing at low levels of gas suppression
VEHICLES
AA cannons:
Removed blast and impact impulse to prevent them from pushing and rotating planes
Reduced impact damage to planes by 50% for fighters and attack planes and by 40% for bombers
A7V:
Reduced A7V flamethrower range from 44 to 24 meters to better match the VFX
Reduced A7V flamethrower speed inheritance and velocity and increased time to live for more predictable behavior
Nintendo has announced a new campaign to help drive awareness of and interest in the soon-to-launch hybrid console, Nintendo Switch. The company today revealed that it is hosting three events across the United States where (some people) can try the console in a "interactive living room" space.
The first stop on the tour is The Blue Movie Ranch in Santa Clarita, California. Scheduled for February 23, the invite-only event will see the WWE's John Cena play the mini-game collection 1-2-Switch with select "YouTube influencers" and other people that Nintendo sent invitations to. We can only hope Cena tries the cow-milking minigame, because that would make for some compelling video.
The second stop is in Aspen, Colorado, at the Snowmass ski resort on February 27. Anyone at the mountain that day can try out the Switch. Nintendo said it's hosting the event at the ski resort to show that the Switch can be played anywhere--"even somewhere as remote as the side of a snowy mountain."
The third and final stop takes place on the Switch's launch day, March 3, at Madison Square Park in New York. This free and open-the-public event will feature appearances by people dressed up like Mario and Luigi to celebrate the console's release.
The new Robin Hood movie, Robin Hood: Origins, started production this week in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik. Local news outlet The Dubrovnik Timeshas posted a gallery of images from the first day of filming, which was on February 20, showing off star Taron Egeron in costume as Robin Hood. The images also spotlight Eve Hewson as Maid Marion; one of the images shows them kissing.
According to the report, more than one thousand extras are being used to film scenes in the city, which filmmakers have tweaked to look like a scene from the Crusades. Filming will continue in Dubrovnik until March 6. Go here to see more on-set images from Robin Hood: Origins.
Robin Hood: Origins is directed by Otto Bathurst (Peaky Blinders) and tells the familiar tale of a group of outlaws fighting corruption after Robin Hood returns from the Crusades. The movie also stars Jamie Foxx (Little John) and Jamie Dornan (Will Scarlett).
Speaking to Collider, producer Basil Iwaynk explained why he thinks Robin Hood: Origins will stand out.
"Exempting the killer cast, I feel that it captures the adventure and the fun and the spirit of Robin Hood, but because it's the origin story--it's a kid going off to war thinking he's going on a great Crusade, and realizing it's all bullsh** and coming back with some PTSD and realizing he's been lied to, and coming back to kind of a fractured society that doesn't really accept him and realizing, 'Okay, the super rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer.'"
Foxx recently arrived in Croatia for the shoot. He posted a video of the castle he's staying in while he's in town--and it looks pretty amazing. Check out the video below.
The story of Robin Hood has been told numerous times in film. Most recently, Russell Crowe played the character for 2010's Ridley Scott-directed Robin Hood. Kevin Costner also played the character, for 1991's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
Leonardo DiCaprio will produce Robin Hood: Origins through his Appian Way banner.
On the subject of the health of the Xbox One ecosystem, Spencer said, "Xbox is having a good [generation]," adding that it's been the best yet. He added that the Xbox One S has been "strong" since it came out in August 2016. "Can always improve but proud of where we are," he said.
A new trailer for the upcoming King Arthur movie, Legend of the Sword, has come online--and it's pretty epic. The trailer shows Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam pulling the sword from the stone to realize his destiny. The new trailer uses the Led Zeppelin song "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" to heighten the mood.
The movie is billed as an "iconoclastic take on the classic Excalibur myth." It follows Arthur "from the streets to the throne," with the story involving Arthur reclaiming the throne after his father, played by Star Trek's Eric Bana, is murdered.
Here is the official plot description: "When the child Arthur's father is murdered, Vortigern (Jude Law), Arthur's uncle, seizes the crown. Robbed of his birthright and with no idea who he truly is, Arthur comes up the hard way in the back alleys of the city. But once he pulls the sword from the stone, his life is turned upside down and he is forced to acknowledge his true legacy…whether he likes it or not."
Legend of the Sword also stars Astrid Berges-Frisbey (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides), Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond), and Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones).
The film is directed by Guy Ritchie, who previously made movies like Snatch, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and Sherlock Holmes. The movie comes out on May 12.
If you're going to see the new Wolverine movie Logan, you may want to stay in your seat after the credits roll. Collider reports that Logan will have a post-credits scene, though there is no word on what we'll see in it. This scene was not in the version of the action movie shown to critics.
There is no word yet on what might happen in this scene. Whatever the case, it'll surely come to light immediately after the movie's first public midnight screenings, if not sooner. We'll report back with more details as they become available.
GameSpot's Logan review praised it for being brutal and grim, featuring outstanding performances by Jackman and Stewart.
"Logan continually subverts your expectations, but in its impactful ending, it still somehow feels like the only way the movie--and Wolverine's long journey--could end," GameSpot critic Randolph Ramsay said. "This is a film that elevates its genre, succeeding precisely because it's different, and because it strives to be the Wolverine movie fans have always wanted to see. Logan is a must-watch, and is not only a wonderful superhero movie, but a wonderful movie in its own right."
After its limited release last week, Microsoft's RTS sequel Halo Wars 2 officially launches today for Xbox One and PC. One element that players will not find in the game is a ranked competitive system, as Microsoft has confirmed this feature has been delayed and is instead coming "shortly after launch."
This system, described as a "formal ranked competitive system" not unlike Halo 5's, was intentionally held back from release at launch, developer 343 Industries explained in a blog post.
One of the reasons was because 343 believes a social/unranked environment will be "more inviting and less stressful" to players. The lack of a ranked competitive system affords players the time to practice and try out different strategies and tactics. Second, pushing back the ranked system gives 343 the time to respond to any balance issues that pop up.
"Delaying a ranked seasonal model also allows the development team to monitor and respond to any balancing issues that usually only arise after players have spent considerable time exploring units and developing strategies and synergies," the developer said. "It's easier for players to be exposed to these 'hot-fixable' issues in a social, no-stakes environment than in the midst of heated ranked competition."
343 provided one further reason for delaying the ranked system.
"Lastly, we're looking to time ranked playlists/seasons with DLC releases which allows the team to roll in any new fixes or tweaks that couldn't be addressed via a 'hot fix,'" it said. "And the introduction of new leaders is a natural opportunity to reset and roll-over a new season."
Finally, 343 said you should consider the time between Halo Wars 2's launch today and the introduction of the ranked system as a "pre-season" of sorts.
Halo Wars 2 is available for Xbox One and PC as an Xbox Play Anywhere title. This means that buying the game once (digitally) on either platform gets you a copy of the game on the other for no extra cost. Additionally, achievements and saves move between platforms.
"Halo Wars 2 carries forth enough of the series' beloved elements to make any fan of Halo feel right at home at first, but not in the long run," reviewer Kallie Plagge said. "It's palatable for those used to the FPS games, taking inspiration from favorite missions and putting a strategic spin on them; but just when things become more challenging and actually interesting, it runs out of steam."
Volume 2 meanwhile includes the 21 Scenario, in which Capcom says you must "gamble life and limb in a deadly game run by Lucas Baker," and the Daughters Scenario, which acts as a prequel to the main game.
In addition, the second expansion includes a new mode, called Jack's 55th Birthday. This is described as a "comical game mode" that involves feeding the game's villain, Jack Baker, "tons of food." Take a look at the mode in action here.
Like a lot of other games, Killzone developer Guerrilla Games' soon-to-launch PS4 exclusive Horizon Zero Dawn will have a day one patch. It is a very small update, coming in at around 250 MB.
This update includes performance-based improvements on PS4 Pro and "higher visual fidelity" for both 4K and 1080p sets, according to patch notes posted by PlayStation Universe.
"Horizon Zero Dawn will receive a small day zero patch that will build upon PlayStation 4 Pro support, adding a Performance mode which will favor smoother framerates while delivering higher visual fidelity in the 1080p mode," Guerrilla said. "This mode is available for both 4K and 1080p displays."
Ghost Recon Wildlands' open beta is available to preload now ahead of its start date of February 23, and a minigame is also playable at the same time. You can download the beta from the PlayStation Store, Xbox Store, or Steam--or, if you prefer, you can try an interactive map-based minigame within your browser.
The minigame, which is called A World With No Heroes, allows you to explore Wildlands' Bolivian setting through the eyes of 50 cameras. Many of these cameras have you tracking or identifying targets and you can earn rewards for the full game by doing so. These bonuses include unique emblems, XP boosts, and more. Try the game for yourself here.
The full game's open beta, meanwhile, begins February 23 and will end four days later. It includes two provinces called Itacua and Montuyoc; there are 21 of these territories in the full game.
People who took part in the closed beta or try the open beta will receive access to the "Unidad Conspiracy," which contains three "exclusive" missions that will be available when the game comes out. Details are light at the moment, but Ubisoft said these missions will involve a "brewing conflict between the local Unidad military and the Santa Blanca." Note that you need to buy the retail version of Wildlands and play it before March 31 on the same Ubisoft account as the beta to get the missions.
In other news, Ubisoft has announced a live-action short film set in the game's universe. Called War Within the Cartel, the movie was produced by Roberto Orci, who wrote the screenplays for Star Trek and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
The announcement was made on the studio's forum by community manager Nate Valenta, who said the "vast majority" of players for each of those games had moved on to newer iterations of Microsoft's PC operating system.
"Microsoft ceased mainstream support for these versions of Windows in 2009 and 2012, respectively, but since a decent portion of our audience was still using them at the time, we continued supporting them," he explained. "However, there have been three major Windows releases since Vista, and at this point, the vast majority of our audience has upgraded to one of the newer versions.
Valenta noted that once support for these operating systems end "the [aforementioned] games will not run on them."
"We encourage any players who are still using one of the older OSes to upgrade to a newer version. We'll be rolling out this change on a staggered schedule, and will post further notices as we get closer to making the change for each game."
Blizzard's latest release Overwatch launched without support for Windows XP or Vista and it hasn't had a noticeable impact on the size of its player base. Activision Blizzard recently reported earnings for its fourth quarter and full-year ended December 31 and, as part of this, Blizzard's monthly active users was cited as 36 million, up 37 percent from 2015. For the fourth quarter alone, Blizzard had 41 million monthly active users.
[Updated January 24 to add World of Goo, Human Resource Machine, and Little Inferno as launch titles]
A console's launch lineup can be important in helping it get off to a good start. After the struggles of the Wii U, Nintendo is surely hoping the Switch gets off to a strong start in March t.
While the Switch's full launch lineup has yet to be confirmed, we now know at least a few of the titles that will debut alongside the system on March 3. As confirmed during the Switch news event on January 12, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Nintendo's new party game 1-2-Switch will be launch titles, as will Ubisoft's Just Dance 2017. Super Bomberman R, The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+, and Skylanders: Imaginators are also launch titles, according to Nintendo on Twitter. These appear to be the only confirmed launch titles at this stage. We will round up all the Switch launch titles and those coming later in this post, adding more to the list below as they become confirmed.
By comparison, the Wii U, released in 2012, had 23 launch titles.
Developer Nicalis confirmed the news in a blog post. The studio did not give a reason for the delay, only saying they couldn't inform fans sooner "due to issues way beyond our control."
The company did soften the blow with some exciting tidbits, however. Binding of Isaac's physical Switch version will come with a reversible cover, 20-page color instruction manual, and a limited edition sticker sheet. Lovely.
Afterbirth+ is an expansion to the base Binding of Isaac game. The DLC pack launched last month on PC, and is also coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Nicalis did not say whether those versions were still on track for their "Spring 2017" release window.
Fire Emblem Heroes players can look forward to earning some extra orbs right through to February 27, thanks some limited-time quests.
Orbs in Fire Emblem Heroes are the currency players can spend to get a random selection of five new heroes to add to their pool.
The limited quests are focused on weapon mastery, requiring players to clear sections of the story mode and the training tower with full teams of either sword, lance, or axe characters.
The event also includes three special maps which are especially useful for new players to get a feel for the strengths and weaknesses of the three primary weapon categories in the game. Swords, axes, and lances each have a special map, with one normal and one hard difficulty mission each for players to beat to earn orbs.
Players that log into the game each day of the event will receive the daily bonus of two orbs. Couple that with the orbs received for completing all 12 event battles, and you have the chance to earn a total of 26 orbs, reports Polygon.
No comments:
Post a Comment