Singer Ed Sheeran and New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard aren't the only surprise celebrities who will appear in Game of Thrones Season 7. Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds has confirmed that he's coming back for his second Game of Thrones cameo in the upcoming season and will play a Wildling again.
Hinds broke his leg in a motorcycle accident last year, and he filmed his Game of Thrones cameo before it healed. His broken leg affected the way he walked, making him stagger like a zombie, apparently. The Game of Thrones producers liked this, Hinds said, and even gave his character a close-up.
"I just came back from my second cameo Game of Thrones," he said on an episode of Hatebreed singer Jamey Jasta's The Jasta Show podcast (via Metalsucks). "This time, I had my broken leg and they were like, 'You're doing the best zombie walk, we want you to come right towards the camera. I want you to drag this axe behind you.' I'm like a reborn, come-to-life Wildling turning into a White Walker."
Mastodon wrote an original song, "White Walker," for the Game of Thrones mixtape Catch the Throne Vol. 2. Game of Thrones co-creator DB Weiss is apparently a big fan of the group.
Here is a picture of Hinds and Mastodon's other guitarist, Bill Kelliher, in costume for their Season 5 cameo:
Batman is known for having a colorful and varied rogues gallery. Some villains are extremely dangerous, while others seem a little tame. The Mad Hatter is often seen as just obsessed with his Alice in Wonderland motif. With his expertise in hypnosis and hypnotherapy combined with his mind-controlling tech he places inside hats, he's ready to turn Batman's world upside-down.
Batman has recently tracked down Poison Ivy for help and fought Mister Freeze. He's about to discover who is working behind the scenes against him. We talked to All Star Batman writer Scott Snyder to find out why Mad Hatter was chosen and why he's started incorporating more prose into his comic writing.
Art by Giuseppi Cauncoli.
GameSpot: Why did you choose the Mad Hatter for this issue, and how come you've been using more prose in your writing?
Scott Snyder: I don't know, man, I've reached a point in my career and my life. I'm older. The point of writing comics is to inspire yourself and to write about things that matter to you or that are personal and that make these characters new to you and exciting and show you how you can be brave in the face of things you're afraid of right this minute.
For me, the last time I wrote prose, right before I got into comics, I had a book deal for a novel. I was working on it, and it was more a literary novel. Then the economy began to contract. To be fair, the book wasn't the most commercial; it was about a barnstormer. I still love the idea. But ultimately the further I worked on it, the more nervous I got that it wasn't going to make them the money back, that they would have to give me if they approved it. It became a really toxic time in my life where I was working on prose and I think probably drinking too much and hating going to work because I was writing under this tremendous pressure in my head that this needed to be a best-seller if I was ever going to pay my mortgage or we just had a kid and I was teaching high school, and I was tutoring, anything I could do to make money.
And that's when comics came along, which I had always wanted to do. I got the chance to pitch, and it really saved my writing life where I got in and was like, "This is what it's like to have fun writing again." I totally had forgotten after the last two years of writing prose, and I loved writing prose up until it became something I was doing under duress for money. Luckily the publishing house, I'm still very good friends with the people I worked with, they were great, dissolved the book deal and allowed me to move into comics entirely because I was having such a good time.
The point I'm trying to make is that I haven't gone back to prose since then, and the last two years I started dabbling with it both in Batman issues and in American Vampire. I decided with A.D. After Death that we'd go whole into it and make it half prose, at least half. There were a couple points along the way, working on it, that I had real anxiety, and got really borderline depressed about it, but certainly anxiety where I couldn't sleep. I had constant panic attacks, and I couldn't really eat. Every time I sat down to the computer, this voice in my head was like, "Oh you're going to write that line? That sucks." And then you'd get a panic attack, and you'd walk around the house. You sit back down, "Oh you're going to write that? That's even worse than the first line." Get back up, walk around the house, try and calm down.
But you know, you have to push through it. And for me, just finishing AD, and I'm deeply proud of it. I think it's one of the better things I've ever done, and it's personal and all that. Just finishing it feels so good because it's about for me this point in my career, the same as All Star. And with an issue like this, [it] speaks to that. It's about trying to do things that make you exciting to yourself, and make these characters exciting to you, never doing anything that feels like you're doing it for the money, you're spinning your wheels or any of it.
So this issue in particular speaks to a lot of that feeling I just described and anxiety. I wanted Mad Hatter to be a character who says, "Look, you think you know what the world is like. You think what you're seeing is true. But what if I start to tell you it's not? And it's not real." And the voice in your head that suddenly was so encouraging a minute ago, saying, "Oh you can do this, you know you can," turns on you and says, "No, you can't." And not only that but, "You're a loser, everything you believe is false, you're never going to make it," and just won't leave you alone. And becomes alien and menacing in your head.
And that's why I chose to do this issue in first-person narration entirely. I've never tried that before. And I've done third-person where it's like a storybook, which is what I did with Jock because that gives it a distance feel, and Mr. Freeze, it gives it like a remote kind of distance cold narration. But first-person is really intimate. So this one I wanted to do that way to show how it feels when you're facing something that feels like it's telling you everything you believe about yourself is untrue, everything that you hope for will never happen, all that's in your head, and your head is the worst place to be for that. And then you get to the other side and there's this feeling of astonishment and relief.
All Star Batman #8 Variant Cover by Camuncoli.
And so the issue is largely designed as a kind of trip down the rabbit hole with the Alice in Wonderland stuff, in that regard, where it starts in first-person and then moves to second person, where he's saying, "Oh, I do this. I'm after them. This is what I see." And then it kind of switches in the middle where he's like, "You do this Batman. You get him. You can do this, dah, dah, dah." And then it switches almost so that Hatter is speaking in his mind, and the font changes, and he's like, "This is what you're seeing, this is you." Batman's dialogue is in quotes in his own mind, and then as Batman starts to win again, it goes backwards through that progression back to the first-person again.
It's meant to sort of mirror a bit of that arc I was telling you about that I went through at least when I was really struggling with some doubts about myself and felt very ... when you feel unwell, when you don't feel like you can trust your own mind, because it's attacking you.
Did I even answer it? I don't even think I was answering your question. I was just talking. So you can ask anything you want.
During the fight it seems like Hatter knows a lot of Batman's secrets.
Right.
Is this the case, or is this like a wait and see?
It's meant to be that if you believe Bruce that this is not real, then the reality stops the minute Hatter has infected him. Did he meet Hatter in the past? Yes. Did he reject Hatter's offer of technology? Yes. Did Hatter put a tag in his pocked to try and dope him? Yes. Did he find that? Yes. Everything past that, whether he knows that Bruce is Batman, whether he followed him and saw that he was struggling to take down crime, all of that is likely in Bruce's head if you believe that it's fake. All of that means he doesn't know he's Bruce Wayne, he doesn't know any of it; it's all sort of within Bruce's own mind at that point, if that's the side you're on. That's it.
A little bit. I didn't want to totally discount that, but it's more of a connection to the secret history of the Blackhawks that ties to who they were in the 50s. It's also a mystery that's going to continue into stuff we're doing over the summer.
So this isn't going to end in the next issue?
No, it actually gets bigger; that mystery gets bigger next issue.
With Duke Thomas, to you what makes him best suited to be Batman's partner?
I think what makes him best-suited for this moment in particular is that, like in this issue, I think Izzy speaks to it a bit, which is that I think it's a moment where generations of readers coming in want to see heroes that exist independently from the heroes that they love, that they also love that they grew up with that are the main heroes. I think characters like Ms. Marvel and Spider-Gwen really speak to that and have become real staples. At DC, I think the success of a book like Detective Comics that foregrounds a bunch of characters that are relatively young and different Cassandra Cain--and even Batwoman is a new character if you're talking about 10 years versus 20, 30, 40 years, and done in different ways. I think the excitement around creating a character that's called something different like Orphan (Cassandra Cain) has a new take. I think all of that stuff is really exciting.
So for me that idea that Duke is his partner isn't what I'm thinking. It's more Duke is somebody who is looking to find his place in the DCU and in Gotham in a way that almost speaks to the core value of him. He's about the fact that to be a hero, you find a way to do it your way independently of the people that have inspired you. He always said that Robin doesn't need a Batman. So he's trying to find a place in Gotham that's his own and very different than anything anybody else has. And not to be too spoiler-y, but we're trying to hint at it pretty hard for the last year or so in terms of he goes out by day a lot as opposed to the other characters. He seems to have different sorts of connections to Gotham, so in that way we're trying to set him up that he'll have a different role, different geography and stuff.
In your opinion, what makes Batman the world's greatest detective?
I think the fact that he never gives up. The thing I love about Batman, like the core thing about him is that you put him in a situation where somebody says it's impossible to solve this, it's impossible to get out of this, and he always does. And the very core of his existence, he's somebody who you could say, "Okay, the worst thing that could happen to a kid happens to him. The odds are he's going to become disillusioned and become at least a damaged person and become hindered by this." Batman is the opposite. Sure he's crazy. But the way that he comes out of it is he defies all those odds. He comes out as this huge symbol of inspiration and turns himself into kind of the opposite of what you'd expect to happen to somebody that somebody would become if that happened to them.
So to me what makes him the greatest detective is the fact that regardless of the case and the difficulty of it, he will not stop until he figures it out.
What can you tease about issue nine?
All Star Batman #9 by Afua Richardson.
It's a culmination of this whole arc. Where basically it's essentially like somebody steps out of the shadows and says, "I was trying to show you three ways the world could end. Through natural disaster," you know like the permafrost melting and spores being released, "through biological weapons," hinted at in the Ivy arc, "or through madness," which is this, the subjective craziness which Hatter says, "We all just want to disappear into our own minds and forget about all of this and create a world that we feel comfortable with whether it's the way we take our news, or the way we create our own perception of the world," that's what he's kind of proposing.
And so this person steps out and says, "Look, you're just the story we tell ourselves to make ourselves feel better, but I've shown you how fragile everything is and now I'm going to push it all over the edge." So it's pretty fun. I'm really proud of this arc, honestly. You know to be able to do very, very different types of stories with each villain within one arc and then make it one kind of collected thing, I've never tried it, so it's so exciting just to get to do different things than I have, and to get to work with such different people than I'm used so. So I really love it.
All Star Batman #8 is on sale in stores and online Wednesday, March 15.
Ubisoft has started coming down hard on those who cheat in its medieval brawler For Honor. The company said on Reddit that it has already banned around 1,500 people for "AFK farming."
The practice involves rigging your character to finish a match, even when you're not actually playing, in order to garner end-of-game rewards and progression. For example, players have tied rubber bands around analog sticks so their in-game character is always on the move, tricking the game into thinking they're playing. This means they don't get kicked out and still pick up bonuses like XP at the end of the game.
AFK farming is, however, against For Honor's code of conduct, says Ubisoft. As a result, around 1,500 people have already received three-day bans, and another 4,000 sneaky players have been detected farming XP using the method and will receive warnings as a result.
"If you create a Custom Game that in any way encourages players to gain experience while inactive, you risk having your account banned," he warned.
In other For Honor news, the game recently received a huge patch that changed the balancing for a bunch of fighters--check out all the details here.
For Honor launched on February 14 to a positive critical reception. GameSpot awarded the game an 8 in our review; Matt Espineli said the game offers "some of the most satisfying multiplayer melee fighting conceived in recent years." For more, check out our full For Honor review.
A new update for Guerrilla Games' PlayStation 4 exclusive Horizon Zero Dawn is out now. Update 1.04 fixes a lot of bugs for the game's main quests, sidequests, and gameplay systems.
One that's resolved is a problem for when main character Aloy becomes stuck in her sliding animation. Additionally, no longer should the music stop during a "long period of play." A number of other "miscellaneous issues" have also been fixed.
The full patch notes, which were shared on the PlayStation website, are posted below. The descriptions contain some story spoilers, so be aware of that.
One problem that this patch does not fix is an issue where all outfit stats appeared to have doubled. Stats have not actually doubled, despite what the UI states.
"This issue is being looked into currently and we shall try to address it as soon as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience," Guerrilla said.
Horizon: Zero Dawn Patch 1.04
Main Quests
Fixed an issue in "The Proving" where one of the attackers would fall down the slope.
Fixed an issue in "The Womb of the Mountain" where the spear would not be in Aloy's inventory if players opened a treasure box with a DLC item before retrieving Aloy's weapons. Note: Players who have already encountered the issue will need to reload from a game saved prior to this quest.
Fixed an issue in "A Seeker at the Gates" where players would be able to enter the gates of Mother's Watch when fast-traveling to this location.
Fixed an issue in "A Seeker at the Gates" where the quest objective would not update from "Go to the Carja Border Fort" to "Kill the corrupted machines".
Fixed an issue in "A Seeker at the Gates" where players could not progress through the Carja Fort.
Fixed an issue in "The City of the Sun" where Erend wouldn't spawn after the dialogue with him ended if players rushed past the civilians on the bridge.
Fixed an issue in "The Sun Shall Fall" where players couldn't return to Dervahl if they fast-traveled during the objective "Talk to Dervahl".
Fixed an issue in "The Grave Hoard" where skipping the conversation with Sylens at the end of the quest and immediately restarting would prevent "To Curse the Darkness" from starting.
Fixed an issue in "Deep Secrets of the Earth" where players couldn't enter the bunker if they fast-traveled away from the objective after they had interacted with the bunker.
Fixed an issue in "The Terror of the Sun" where Aloy would respawn in an empty arena after being killed by the Behemoth. Note: Players who have already encountered the issue will need to go to Sunfall, at which point they will be teleported back into the arena to continue the quest.
Side Quests and Activities
Fixed an issue in "Hunter's Blind" where the objective would not update after talking to Talanah.
Fixed an issue in "Hunter's Blind" where players could kills the Glinthawks before the actual objective was triggered.
Fixed an issue in "The Foreign Lands" where players could already deliver the bow to Lakhir before being instructed to do so.
Fixed an issue in "Fatal Inheritance" where the objective would fail to update after disabling the lure device and speaking with Ranaman during the quest.
Fixed an issue in "Blood on Stone" where the Rockbreaker would not surface correctly if players fast-traveled from and to the quest area just before the start of the sequence.
Fixed an issue in "Death from the Skies" where the Stormbird objective would remain active after deactivating the lures and fast-traveling from and to the quest area.
Fixed an issue in "Redmaw" where Redmaw would be alive again if players left the quest area during the objective "Talk to Ahsis".
Fixed an issue in "Redmaw" where the marker for the objective "Talk to Ahsis" would be invisible outside of the quest area.
Game Systems
Fixed an issue where exploration music would drop out after a long period of play.
Fixed an issue where Aloy could become 'stuck' in her sliding animation.
Fixed miscellaneous issues to improve the overall play experience.
Similar to indie game-centric promotions Sony has had before, the company today announced Play Collective.
This is a new promotion centered around six upcoming games headed to the PlayStation Store over the next month and a half. Aside from simply highlighting the games in question, PlayStation Plus members will receive a 20 percent discount on each of them by preordering from the PlayStation Store.
It all begins next week, on March 21, when Everything is released. It will be followed by another game each Tuesday through the end of April. The discounts for all six games are live now, but they expire on the morning of each game's release.
Here's the full schedule and discounted Plus pricing for the US:
A new update launches this week for Rainbow Six Siege, improving Glaz and introducing a variety of balance changes, among other things.
This is a Mid-Season Reinforcement update, meaning it aims to improve the game rather than add new content. That said, if you're a Glaz player like me, you'll be happy to hear that Glaz's sight has been reworked to make it more useful.
When aiming down the sights with Glaz's weapon, you'll now have thermal visual feedback, which makes it much easier to pick out enemies (provided they aren't behind a wall). This also works through smoke grenades, which can help to counter players who use those.
Other character buffs come for Doc, who can now overheal players to 140 health (up from 120), and Buck, who gains an additional magazine for his Skeleton Key shotgun.
Among the weapon changes, the DMR's trigger rate has been reduced to prevent players from being able to fire them faster than intended. Certain sights are being reduced in size after the change made during a previous patch, which should help to prevent them from obstructing your view too much. And Echo's MP5SD2, which features an integrated suppressor, now deals more damage at mid-range, as it was deemed too ineffective previously.
This patch also introduces a new Elite set for Twitch (pictured above). This consists of a matching uniform and headgear along with an Operator card, title, charm, and victory animation.
Additionally, it paves the way for a technical test server. Ubisoft said that game "health" is an area of emphasis, and this will serve as one way of improving that. At some point in the coming weeks, it said it will launch a test server to "focus on specific technical systems we want to introduce to the game. The first of these is the One-Step Matchmaking, which was mentioned at the Six Invitational and is a new approach to our matchmaking to make it more stable." More details will arrive in the "upcoming weeks." There's no mention if this will be PC-only, as is the case with test servers for games like Battlefield 1 and Overwatch.
For a full list of all the changes, including more weapon adjustments and bug fixes, check out the patch notes. The patch deploys tomorrow, March 15, with maintenance windows scheduled during the following times:
You can automatically get into the beta by purchasing the game's Founder's Pack, which normally goes for $20 but is available right now for $15. In addition to providing instant access to the beta, it gets you every character that Hi-Rez ever releases for the game. A total of 15 are scheduled to arrive in 2017, adding to the 22 that are already available.
Alternatively, you can sign up at the Paladins website for a chance to get into the closed beta. GameSpot is holding a giveaway for Paladins codes. We have 50,000 each for PS4 and Xbox One. Click the links below to find out how to enter.
A free open beta is coming at a later date, Hi-Rez said in a post on the PlayStation Blog.
Paladins is a team-based shooter set in a fantasy universe. Some of its characters include a shotgun-wielding monk and a goblin that pilots a mech. Watch the closed beta announcement trailer above to get a better idea for what to expect.
[UPDATE] The trailer has now arrived and can be seen above. It provides basically the best look we've gotten so far at the multiplayer mode, starting off by confirming there are over 25 character sets to choose from "at launch," suggesting more are coming later. You can play as a character from the Andromeda or Milky Way galaxy. Each character has their own set of skills and abilities.
Over 40 upgradeable weapons will be available at launch, with more to come. Additionally, weapons are not restricted to certain classes, so any character can use any weapon.
There will be five multiplayer maps available at launch, including Sandstorm, the one shown in this preview video. More maps will be released later as free DLC.
At the end of a match, XP and other rewards are shared between teammates, so as to discourage teammates from competing, BioWare says. Extra packs can be purchased using credits, which you can unlock through gameplay or by spending real money for microtransactions.
Additionally, the video talks about the multiplayer Strike Team missions, which can be accessed from the Tempest, your ship. Rewards earned from completing these missions can be used in single-player.
BioWare will share new details about Mass Effect: Andromeda's multiplayer today, the developer has confirmed. Fans can expect a "deeper look" at the mode in a new video.
You don't have to wait to see some new footage, as the teaser below shows off what fans can expect from the four-player, wave-based co-op mode. Take a look:
Assemble your squad. Tune in tomorrow for a deeper look at Multiplayer in Mass Effect: Andromeda. pic.twitter.com/LvkrOsO269
GameSpot played Andromeda's multiplayer mode at PAX East over the weekend. You can read editor Scott Butterworth's impressions right here.
BioWare originally planned to let a group of people play Andromeda's multiplayer through a beta, but the developer canceled plans for this.
You may not have to wait until launch to try Andromeda's multiplayer mode, however, as EA/Origin Access subscribers on Xbox One and PC can play it as part of the game's 10-hour trial coming on March 16. The full game launches on March 21 for Xbox One, PC, and PlayStation 4.
In other news about Andromeda's multiplayer mode, producer Fernando Melo has shared yet another image, this one focusing on the consumables screen.
On the 13th day of #MEAndromeda MP-mas, the MP dev team gave to you: a look at the consumables screen. Boosters & in-game emergency supplies pic.twitter.com/hZRSFJUE14
GameSpot will have lots more on Andromeda in the coming days as part of our new video series, "The Story of Mass Effect: Andromeda." You can watch a trailer for that below.
We've teamed up with Hi-Rez Studios to give away 50,000 closed beta keys for Paladins to redeem on PS4 (North America, South America, and Canada ONLY). This is an instant win and you will receive an email with the code within 24 hours.
Paladins is a team-based shooter with strategy elements and deep character customization through its unique use of collectible cards. These cards amplify and augment a character's core set of abilities in many interesting ways.
We've teamed up with Hi-Rez Studios to give away 50,000 closed beta keys for Paladins to redeem on Xbox One. This is an instant win and you will receive an email with the code within 24 hours.
Paladins is a team-based shooter with strategy elements and deep character customization through its unique use of collectible cards. These cards amplify and augment a character's core set of abilities in many interesting ways.
If you're in the market for a new Xbox One S, Microsoft is offering a pretty nice discount on the Minecraft Favorites bundle right now. Until March 18, you can get the system for only $250.
It comes with a 500 GB white Xbox One S and digital copies of Minecraft for Xbox One and Windows 10. You also get 13 "Favorite" packs featuring more than 230 skins in all based on all manner of things, including Halo characters and Greek mythology.
The discount is good at a number of US-based retailers, including Amazon (where it's offered for $240), GameStop, Best Buy, Walmart, Target, and the Microsoft Store.
The newest addition to the Overwatch roster arrives in a week's time, Blizzard announced today.
Orisa will be out for all platforms on March 21. Blizzard shared the news alongside a new behind-the-scenes video (above) discussing the creation of Orisa, who is intended to serve as an "anchor" Tank-class character.
We don't know what else will be included in the Orisa update, but among the other changes we've recently seen on the PTR are a nerf for Ana and further changes to Bastion.
BioWare has yet to make any official announcements regarding preloading, but if it does, that should happen soon. We'll report back with more details as they become available.
Andromeda officially launches on March 21, but a 10-hour trial of the game will be available on Xbox One and PC for EA/Origin Access subscribers starting on March 16.
GameSpot will have lots more on Andromeda in the coming days as part of our new video series, "The Story of Mass Effect: Andromeda." You can watch a trailer for that below.
The latest update for GTA Online has arrived. Called Cunning Stunts: Special Vehicle Circuit, the update adds 20 new stunt races to the game that have been designed to take advantage of the unique qualities of the Rocket Voltic, Ruiner 2000, and Blazer Aqua cars.
As you can see in the trailer below, the races look totally insane. Some courses are set in the skies above Los Santos and involve equipping a parachute to your car. In the Blazer Aqua race, you'll zip through the water on the amphibious vehicle. With the Rocket Voltic, which has a rocket attached to it, you'll speed through a Rainbow Road-looking course. Watch the trailer below to see more.
You can try the new races in GTA Online through the Special Vehicle Circuit Series icon on the map. All of the races pay out double GTA$ and RP through Wednesday, March 22.
Today's GTA Online update also adds the gorgeous-looking Progen GP1 (below), which is available to buy from Legendary Motorsport. Additionally, with this update applied, players can purchase any vehicle that was previously only available after completing a heist. On top of that, the Rhino, Annihilator, Buzzard, and Dubsta 6x6 no longer require you to be a certain rank to buy them.
There are new sales in GTA Online as well. Now through March 22, you can save 25 percent on everything listed below.
Stilt Houses
Penthouse Apartments
Progen T20
Engine Upgrades
Turbo Upgrades
Exhausts
Spoilers
Submachine Guns
Body Armor
Import/Export Clothing
In other news, Rockstar announced the launch of a new form of Premium races themed around Special-class vehicles. This begins today with a race called "Redneck" featuring the Rocket Voltic. As usual, the top three finishers get GTA$ rewards, while everyone who participates earnings triple RP.
Finally, Rockstar teased GTA Online's future updates, saying they will add new Creator items such as stunt race props and the ability to create a course for the Special vehicles. Also, "classic" GTA cars, including a "particularly morbid muscle car," are headed to the game in the future, while new modes such as Top Down and Resurrection are also on the way.
One of the talking points around Disney's new live-action Beauty and the Beast involves the character LeFou and how he has an "exclusively gay moment." A movie theater in Alabama said it would not screen the movie because of this. Now, actor Ewan McGregor, who plays the candlestick Lumiere in the movie, has weighed in with his own take on the matter.
"He's a gay character," McGregor said with a shrug in an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert last night. "It's 2017, for f**k's sake, you know?" Minor Beauty and the Beast spoilers follow.
According to Vulture, the "gay moment" in Beauty and the Beast comes at the end of the movie when LeFou dances with another man. This is shown on screen for about two seconds, the site said.
Condon broke the news about LeFou in an interview with the UK magazine Attitude.
"LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston," the director said. "He's confused about what he wants. It's somebody who's just realizing that he has these feelings. And [LeFou actor Josh Gad] makes something really subtle and delicious out of it. And that's what has its payoff at the end ... it is a nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie."
Condon later told ScreenCrush that the storyline about LeFou's sexuality has been "overblown." For his part, Gad told USA Today that "there was nothing in the script that said 'LeFou is gay.'"
Still, the controversy continues. According to Variety, Beauty and the Beast will not screen in Malaysia, following the country's decision to remove the "gay moment" from the movie.
Also in the Colbert interview, McGregor says he's never seen the 1991 original animated Beauty and the Beast. This is a good thing, he says, because he wasn't beholden to trying to exactly recreate how Lumiere sounded in the original.
Beauty and the Beast opens on March 17. It also stars Emma Watson, Luke Evans, Ian McKellan, Emma Thompson, and Stanley Tucci. It's expected to have a huge opening, with estimates putting its US box office haul in the area of $120 million, which would make it one of the most successful March openings ever.
Nintendo has released a new trailer for its upcoming 3DS game Mario Sports Superstars. The video shows off the game's five sports, including baseball, horse racing, tennis, golf, and soccer.
The video features some silly sports commentary, including a humorous crack about Luigi, yet again, coming in second in a race against his brother Mario (via DualShockers).
Mario Sports Superstars' five sports are playable in single-player and multiplayer. There are 18 characters in the game, including Mario, Peach, Bowser, Rosalina, Luigi, Yoshi, Walugi.
Additionally, Nintendo is supporting the game with Amiibo cards that can be purchased in packs of 5 for $5.
Mario Sports Superstars is already out in Europe and arrives in North America on March 24. Early copies of the game come bundled with one Amiibo card.
The first one starts off by confirming that production on Breath of the Wild began "in earnest" in January 2013, with the expectation that the game would launch before 2017. It was delayed multiple times, finally launching in March--and the wait was worth it. The developers also talk about how one of the design mantras throughout development was to "break the conventions of the Zelda series," which led to the creation of the open world--and also some ideas that didn't make the cut. There is also a lot of rad concept art in the videos; take a look:
"It's a game that allows you to feel gradually more and more empowered yet simultaneously manages to retain a sense of challenge and mystery--which, together, creates a steady, consistent feeling of gratification throughout the entire experience," reviewer Peter Brown said. "Breath of the Wild is a defining moment for The Legend of Zelda series, and the most impressive game Nintendo has ever created."
Could Blizzard's popular shooter Overwatch come to the Nintendo Switch? Nothing is ruled out, but it sounds unlikely, according to director Jeff Kaplan,
"Getting Overwatch on the Switch is very challenging for us," Kaplan said on Reddit (via NeoGAF). "But we're always open-minded about exploring possible platforms."
Kaplan added that he is personally enjoying the Switch and is a fan of Nintendo hardware overall, with the 3DS being his second-favorite gaming system ever (he didn't say what his No. 1 is).
Overwatch, which was Blizzard's first brand-new franchise in 17 years when it came out May 2016, is currently available on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.
By Blizzard's latest count, Overwatch had 25 million registered players, though the game has not necessarily sold that many copies.
"What [Gears of War developer The Coalition boss Rod Fergusson] did was give the people what that want. He did the J.J. Abrams Episode VII," he said, referencing Star Wars: The Force Awakens. "I've watched Episode VII five times. I still get misty-eyed and get all excited but when I think objectively about it, I'm like, 'There wasn't a lot of risk there.' So I'm hoping they take a little bit more risk in the future."
Microsoft has not announced any new Gears of War games, but that's more a question of when not if. Xbox boss Phil Spencer has suggested that a non-shooter Gears of War game could happen.
"Definitely when we got the team together and talked about the future of Gears of War, I think there's multiple ways that you can tell that story," he said. "Multiple gameplay genres. I think it's a really big IP and it's an IP that could exist in linear form, in books--we've seen that; in different gaming genres."
Bleszinski's current project is the PC shooter LawBreakers, which enters closed beta this week. Asked if the game could come to console, Bleszinski reiterated that developer Boss Key is "talking to people," but stopped short of confirming anything.
"I would love for nothing more than for that to happen but it's business. We'll see," he said.
Also in our interview, which was conducted at PAX East in Boston, Bleszinski reflected on some of the franchises that he helped create.
"Standing in this great booth at Nexon ... it was funny because Bulletstorm's right next to it, the remaster. Then over to my left there's like a Gears of War 4 photo booth. I'm sitting here going like, 'This is f***ing weird.' It feels good. I like making new IP," he said.
"In the back of my head I'm thinking about all the nasty comments I've ever read in my entire career and I'm like, 'Haha, call me next time you're on a show floor and there's three IPs that you were instrumental in creating."
Finally, Bleszinski offered a tease that LawBreakers may not be the last franchise he creates.
Looking for something to do for the next 17 days? Twitch's Power Rangers marathon, which will show all 831 episodes of the series in order, begins today, March 14, at 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET.
As announced previously, every episode from the show's 23 seasons is being broadcast back-to-back, until the event wraps up on March 30.
You can watch through Twitch's TV marathon channel, twitch.tv/TwitchPresents. People who subscribe to the channel will get Power Rangers-themed emotes. Twitch is also allowing people to co-stream the event, adding their own commentary. You can learn more about the event on Twitch's blog.
This Power Rangers marathon is being held in the lead-up to the new film from Lionsgate that opens on March 24.
Popular YouTuber iJustine brought the hybrid console with her aboard a zero-g flight recently. It's pretty neat to see the Switch and its Joy-Cons floating around in the aircraft. Take a look:
She's not in actual space, but instead aboard a modified Boeing 727 performing parabolic maneuvers. That basically means the plane flies up very quickly and then dives sharply, providing the feeling of weightlessness for around 30 seconds at each interval.
This video was filmed in partnership with the Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence movie Passengers, which launches today, March 14, for DVD and Blu-ray.
These are just a sampling of this week's Deals With Gold offers. Go to Major Nelson's blog to see a full rundown of the Xbox One and Xbox 360 weekly deals, some of which require Xbox Live Gold.
Are you picking up any new games this week in the sale? Let us know in the comments below!
Switch reportedly sold 1.5 million units worldwide in its first week on sale, meaning it's already not far off the 2 million sales mark that Nintendo hoped the console would reach by the end of March.
Specifically, the report from SuperData (via GamesIndustry) states that 500,000 consoles were sold in the US, with 360,000 units shifted in Japan. Europe apparently "isn't far behind:" the only numbers the sales monitor reports for Europe are that France saw 110,000 sales and the UK sold 85,000.
Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima said in October 2016 that he expects the Switch to ship 2 million units to stores by the end of March. With 1.5 million sold to consumers in the first week, that's a pretty good start.
In our verdict, we called the Switch "a technical marvel" that lays the groundwork for "a great gaming device." For more, check out our full Nintendo Switch review.
Starlord, Gamora, Drax, and those other intergalactic misfits return to screens in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which is released in May. A new TV spot has arrived--check it out below:
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker, Vin Diesel, Dave Bautista, and Kurt Russell. It's directed by James Gunn, who also helmed the first movie.
A new clip aired during the Kids Choice Awards on Nickelodeon over the weekend. It has not been officially posted by Marvel, but you can find it on YouTube. A full trailer was released in December--check it out here.
Battlefield 1's first paid expansion, They Shall Not Pass, arrives today on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC for some. People who own the $50 Premium Pass get it today, while it will be available for everyone else to buy in two weeks, starting on March 28.
The expansion is available on PC through Origin right now, though PS4 and Xbox One players have to wait a little while longer. Check out the chart below to find out when They Shall Not Pass arrives for your platform where you live. As announced previously, Battlefield 1's servers will be or have already been taken offline to apply this update.
They Shall Not Pass adds the French army and four new maps set in France. It also includes two new Operations, six unlockable weapons, four melee weapons, a new Behemoth (the Char 2C tank), and the Trench Raider elite class. A new mode called Frontlines is also added with the expansion.
Check out GameSpot's video above to learn more about They Shall Not Pass.
Even if you're not a Battlefield Premium subscriber, your Battlefield experience is changing, as a mandatory update arrives today. It adds a Spectator Mode, adjusts the resupply timers for grenades, and makes a lot of weapon balance changes. The update also fixes a number of bugs, including a problem where it would rain indoors on the Giant's Shadow map.
Reduced Smoke, Gas and Mini Grenade ammo from 2 to 1
Ammo pouches currently no longer resupply grenades
These changes are subject to tweaking in future releases. We are looking to expanding this system to more gadgets in the future.
MG 08/15:
Decreased horizontal recoil from 0.7 to 0.3
Full accuracy is reached one shot earlier
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
Fixed staged reload timers
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
PS4: Fixed an issue where the MG 08/15 was overheating too fast and set the new overheat threshold to 67 bullets
Xbox One: Fixed an issue where the MG 08/15 was overheating too fast and set the new overheat threshold to 67 bullets
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 hip fire 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 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 hip fire 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 auto replenish 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
GAME IMPROVEMENTS
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
Fixed an issue where players could get the crosshairs back after pressing E while zooming in a vehicle in Hardcore
The bomber will no longer destroy certain structures when crashing in to them
Fixed an issue with certain vehicle gunner seats where the ADS stopped working once the weapon has been overheated.
Fixed an issue where the UI did not update correctly when using certain gunner seats in the Heavy Tank
Fixed an issue where the Armored Car turret accuracy was off, it's now aligned with the cross hair
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
GAME IMPROVEMENTS
USER INTERFACE
EMBLEM REPORTING
In addition to the End of Round scoreboard, reporting emblems is now possible to do from the in-game scoreboard as well.
NOTIFICATIONS
The previous mid screen popup notification system has been replaced with a new notification system showing notifications in the upper left corner of the screen instead. This improvement has also solved a number of popup related issues.
UI IMPROVEMENTS
Rental servers:
Added Behemoths and Full Magazine settings for use with Custom games
Improved the kick reason when banning players
Improved the Kick and Ban flows from the in-game admin
Improved error message when losing network connectivity under certain conditions
Rank icon for Hero Class is now displayed on the Weapons & Gadgets screen
Server browser limit of how many servers to show has been increased
Medals that are not taken are now shown as dimmed
Time in Vehicles is now rounded to full minutes for vehicle stats
Adjusted position of carousel arrow buttons on home to be less on top of the cards
Class Rank progression is now shown on End of Round screen
Speed-ups and streamlining of Battlepacks opening sequence
PC: Various mouse UI focus improvements
UI BUG FIXES
Fixed bug where the title could hang if losing network connectivity while matchmaking into an Operation
Navigating Battlepacks on Loading screen after entering a second time
Issue with navigating BF4 assignments from BF1
Rare occurrence where a number would be shown instead of game server name in the server browser
Utilizing $ in server filters now works correctly
Rare crash when watching video in the UI for many hours
Favorite star can now be seen when the favorite server is selected in the server browser
Fixed hang issue when loosing connectivity on "Get Battlepacks" screen
Battlepacks shortcut now updates correctly on home screen
Removed incorrect progress bars from vehicle stats
Disabled order part of commo rose in Team Death Match
Fixed text alignment EOR Map voting in the Arabic version of the game
Fixed text alignment in the Customize Soldier screen in the Arabic version of the game
Fixed several typos present in various Codex descriptions
Fixed an issue that caused the player list in the deploy screen not to be selectable as intended
Soldier inventory now properly displays on HUD when option is set to always show.
Fixed an issue where the Squad XP boost percentage number is shown out of place in the Arabic version of the game
Minor text changes to Achievements
Fixed an issue where the "Party Join" notification would still be active after the notice would disappear
Sidearm skins are now visible in the kill card
Fixed an issue where there was overlapping Arabic text on the Medals screen
The Grenade Crossbow now has a correct Codex image
Players are now rewarded with corresponding Dog Tag for obtaining Service Stars with the Crossbow Launcher
PC: The skip button for the Battlepacks unboxing sequence no longer appears twice when using a gamepad
PC: Shoulder button indicators no longer appears and disappears when using a gamepad
PS4: Fixed bug occurring if purchasing PS Plus while being invited to play
GAME IMPROVEMENTS
GENERAL IMPROVEMENTS
RSP
Whole Magazine Reload. This setting will discard all remaining bullets in a clip when reloading.
The Flare Gun is no longer available when choosing "Melee" only in the server configuration
Reduced the intensity of the fog on Giant's Shadow
Fixed visual issue for the Medic's syringe when used in certain indoor areas
Fixed an issue where the "Corporal" trophy would not unlock when reaching the unlock criteria
Ribbons now correctly award 500XP each
Fixed an issue where the player would not get idle-kicked from the server when being idle
Fixed an issue where the "War Bonds" trophy would not unlock when reaching the unlock criteria
Fixed an issue where new installation of the game and its system files would fail due to missing files.
Fixed an issue where the weapon firing animation becomes erratic when looking up or down.
Fixed an issue where the wrong thumbnail image was being shown in the Map Vote screen for Ballroom Blitz
Fixed an issue where it would rain inside of certain indoor areas on the Giant's Shadow map
Fixed an issue where the Heavy Tank exhaust pipes would not emit smoke when used operated
Fixed an issue where the Torpedo Boat would not leave wreckage after being destroyed
Fixed some clipping issues on the Giants Shadow map
Fixed an issue where players sometimes would be quick matched into a server in the wrong region
Medical Crates no longer explode when destroyed
Fixed an issue where the weapon audio was muffled when spectating a player in first person
Fixed an issue where the gas grenade VFX would not disappear if a soldier is killed by the gas
Fixed an issue where a corrupted flag animation would be visible at the end of round sometimes
Fixed an issue where a flag would appear to be floating in mid-air on Giant's Shadow's C objective.
Fixed an issue where players would get stuck in a weird state if getting killed immediately following a revive
Fixed an issue where players could see through the smoke clouds caused by smoke grenades while playing on low settings
Fixed an issue where the screen would sometimes go dark suddenly after a bayonet charge
You can now melee takedown opponents who are using stationary weapons/gadgets
Players entering vehicles with Gas Mask equipped can now use the zoom in the vehicle gunner seats
Improved messaging for spectators between battalions in Operations.
Fixed an audio syncing issue with the Selbstladler 1906 when in the reload animation
Added camera movement when firing and reload sound for vehicle mounted T-gewehr
Added camera movement when firing for Vehicle HMG
Removed Camera movement when driving on the MarkV
Adjusted fire damage volumes across the level and reduced fire damage at B-Flag on Amiens
Friday the 13th: The Game is coming this year, and it promises a serious bloodbath. The trailers so far have shown off a number of brutal executions featured in the asymmetrical multiplayer game, and while some fans of the series are excited about the level of violence, many haven't reacted as favorably. We sat down with co-creator and designer Ronnie Hobbs and Executive Producer Randy Greenback to learn more about the game's violence and what horror fans can expect.
GameSpot: Could you tell us a little more about how this project got started?
Ronnie Hobbs: We grew up Friday the 13th fans, and we always wanted to see the slasher genre come into the video [game] market, because it really hasn't. We're like, "Okay. If the Friday the 13th guys aren't going to make a game, let's just do it ourselves." We got Kane Hodder, the guy who played Jason [Friday the 13th Part] VII, [Part] VIII, [Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday], and [Jason X]. He did our mo-cap and our stunt work, so we got Jason. Then we hired Tom Savini, who is a legendary special effects makeup guy. He was the one who designed all our kills in our game.
The rights holders [of] Friday the 13th, so Sean Cunningham and his team, saw the game and gave us the license for free. Which does not happen ever in the history of anything.
We went to Kickstarter trying to raise some money, because buttloads of money didn't come with it. Just the license. We still had to take on the burden of making the game. We just needed some more money, and here we are.
There was a pretty strong reaction on the internet to the Kickstarter. You guys got funded relatively quickly. Were you expecting that kind of support?
RH: Horror fans are the most loyal in the world. They're almost like sci-fi fans. They're almost like Star Trek and Star Wars fans. They'll stick with you forever. We kind of expected that, but it was still great to see. The stuff you believe in, that other people believe in that as well.
I wanted to ask about both the fans and those who protest against the violence, starting with the fans. How do you serve a fanbase that is clearly very devoted to a franchise and has certain expectations that are going to be probably difficult to meet? How do you manage those expectations?
RH: I think they would be difficult [to manage] if we weren't fans already. We were the kids watching Friday the 13th. We were the kids that were looking up to Tom Savini and Kane Hodder. We had their posters on our wall. We were hiding under the covers watching Friday the 13th when we were kids, so we know everything about the franchise just like the hardcore fans do. If you're in that select group, you know that Part III and [The Final Chapter] kind of look the same, but they're not at all. You know that every little hole in the mask and every little scratch mark and the color tone and which rips in the clothes need to be there. You know all the actors who played him. We had that luxury of already being in that position. That's why we wanted to make Summer Camp, because we wanted to [create a] tribute to Friday the 13th.
Pleasing the hardcore fans is actually pretty easy for us. It's convincing the rest of the world that this multiplayer experience where you have this killer who is a man, seemingly--even before he's dead in the films, he's a grown man--he's vicious, and he's doing bad things to 20-something-year-old camp counselors or counselor leads. That's the image that people can't get over. He does brutal things to people who may kind of be innocent, just like the films. We couldn't stray from that. We couldn't just let Jason give you a spanking when he finds you. It wouldn't be right.
We couldn't just let Jason give you a spanking when he finds you. It wouldn't be right.
That's sort of your response to people who protest the violence?
RH: Yeah.
Randy Greenback: We say the films are the roadmap. We're honoring the genre of films that we grew up on in the '80s. We're not doing anything different. If we did, then we wouldn't be what we are. We are probably one of the most authentic horror games out there to the source material. Probably the, I would say. We're excited about that. To be able to get the license, that was a dream come true.
But then to sit down with the production team and Ronnie, I can't tell you how many hours he's been meeting with the guys at Illfonic as they've reviewed all the different movies frame by frame, trying to get the Higgins house perfect. Trying to get Packanack Lodge perfect. They're pretty much dead on exact. You feel like you are a counselor in the movie, and that's one of the driving forces and the goals that we had going into this.
RH: Yeah, it's funny. The Packanack Lodge is from Part 2, and the Higgins house is from PartIII, in the films. Those houses don't exist anymore, and the floor plans don't exist.
You have to scour the internet for fan photos who happened to sneak in before it was torn down. Then you have to scour the movie, and they do a good job of hiding camera angles and making them seem bigger, so you don't even get the floor plan. We had to watch the films about 200 times for each frame, and do floor plans. But we have them in the game, and they look 95 percent accurate. That's just something that goes back to pleasing the hardcore fans.
With regard to the violence, is there a line you won't cross? How do you decide what's the appropriate level of gore and violence for the game?
RH: The ESRB is the line that we can't cross. We don't care. We don't have a line in our heads. We're like, "Whatever. The gorier the better." But the ESRB obviously monitors that, and we're working with them to try to get the right balance.
RG: We don't want to end up with an Adults Only rating.
RH: We can't, so it won't be. Tom Savini designed these kills, so once again, we're responsible for fulfilling his ideas. Whatever he comes up with, which [was] the best in the industry in the '80s and '90s, that is Tom. He was the most creative killer in the world. We have to do what he says. We don't have to, but we want to. If we take his kills and neuter them, or water them down, fans are not going to be too happy.
How do those meetings tend to go, when you're pitching ideas for kills? Do you ever feel reluctant to be like, "Everyone's going to think I'm real fucked up if I suggest this"?
RH: They already do. You should see our Google searches. I'm sure we're on some kind of a watchlist. Dead bodies, just the whole thing. You've got to get it right. You have to make it look right. It's a very interesting setting for sure.
Friday the 13th: The Game is coming to PC, PS4, and Xbox One this year.
CBS has given the green light to a Big Bang Theory prequel, it seems. According to The Hollywood Reporter, CBS, which owns GameSpot, has confirmed a straight-to-series order for the show, which will be called Young Sheldon. This confirms reports from last year.
Big Little Lies actor Iain Armitage will play the young version of Sheldon Cooper, who is portrayed by Jim Parsons on the current show. Actress Zoe Perry will play young Sheldon's mother, Mary Cooper.
"The project will revolve around a 9-year-old Sheldon Cooper as he lives with his family in East Texas and goes to high school," according to THR. "The concept was originally described as Malcolm in the Middle with a young Sheldon. Lance Barber, Raegan Revord, and Montana Jordan have also joined the cast."
According to THR, "Revord will play a young version of Sheldon's twin sister Missy; Barber will play George, Sheldon and Missy's father and Mary's husband; and Jordan will play George Jr., Sheldon's older brother."
Big Bang Theory creator Chuck Lorre and showrunner Steve Molaro are behind Young Sheldon, though Big Bang Theory co-creator Bill Prady is reportedly not involved. Iron Man director Jon Favreau will direct and produce the pilot, according to the report.
Another key detail is that Parsons will narrate the show as "Adult Sheldon."
There is no word yet on when the show will premiere or how many episodes the first season will contain.
During last week's Penny Arcade Expo, developer BioWare finally unveiled the multiplayer component of its soon-to-be-released space RPG Mass Effect: Andromeda. Though my hands-on time was limited, the cooperative horde mode structure felt extremely similar to Mass Effect 3's multiplayer. While that could make for some enjoyable gameplay, those parallels might alarm players who remember Mass Effect 3's multiplayer for other, less positive reasons.
In order to achieve the "best" ending in Mass Effect 3's single-player campaign, players needed to raise their "Galactic Readiness" above a certain level, which inevitably forced them to participate in the game's online multiplayer. Though Mass Effect 3's fast-paced, action-focused multiplayer proved surprisingly enjoyable, fans still balked at the idea of playing online to unlock story options in the single-player.
Thankfully, Andromeda doesn't repeat this format, but its multiplayer does tie into both the story and the mechanics of the campaign--or at least, it can. According to lead designer Ian Frazier, you can simply select multiplayer from the main menu, but if you so choose, "There's a tie that can exist between single-player and multiplayer--that's the Strike Teams."
Frazier continued, "At a certain point fairly early in the plot, we say, 'Hey, there's this militia [that is] waking up from the cryopods from the Milky Way.' They can do missions where the Pathfinder isn't. When Ryder has more important things to do, you get the ability to assign AI Strike Teams to go do these missions. It's all set in real-time, so it's going to take an hour, five hours, or whatever for one of these missions to happen. Your teams have a different percent chance to succeed based on their stats and equipment and everything. You can gear them up, you can train them up, you can send them to do these missions, but they're going to take a while to do it."
For the most part, these Strike Missions function as a sort of strategy meta-game that exists in parallel with but largely separate from the main storyline. But as Frazier explains, there are optional exceptions: ?Some of these missions are called 'Apex Missions.' They're generally a little harder. You can send your teams to do them, but it's going be really hard for them unless you've really leveled up your teams. Or you can do it yourself in multiplayer. You can just hit a button, it'll quick-save your single-player game [and] launch you directly into multiplayer where you can solo if you want, you can match-make with friends, [or] you can do a public game and match-match with strangers."
According to Frazier, not only will the transition between your single-player experience and these special multiplayer Strike Missions be seamless, the missions themselves will feel appropriate to the context of your story. "If it says it's a night mission on a certain map against Kett for this objective, that's what the mission will actually be," said Frazier. "When you finish it, you get all the normal multiplayer rewards as if you had picked [multiplayer] from the main menu, but you'll also get the rewards associated with the mission back in single-player." These rewards include both "mission funds"--which you can use to buy items for your multiplayer characters--as well as Pathfinder rewards for Ryder ranging from crafting materials to firearms.
"The idea is, if you're really into multiplayer, you get all the things you already liked, plus it's benefiting your single-player campaign," said Frazier. "If you're only into multiplayer, cool. If you're only into single-player, cool. We tried to set it up in a way that there's nothing you can't get within the context of single-player. You don't have to play multiplayer at all if you don't want to."
Mass Effect: Andromeda launches on PC, PS4, and Xbox One on March 21. Be sure to check GameSpot and YouTube later this week to catch our mini-documentary series on the making of the game.
No Man's Sky recently received its second major update, and Hello Games is already releasing another patch to expand on its most significant addition.
Last week's update introduced land-based Exocraft vehicles, but it restricted their use to whatever you had designated as your home planet. That's changing to allow Exocraft Geobays to be built on any planet, which means these vehicles can be taken out for a ride wherever a Geobay is built.
Additionally, tracking down a Geobay should become easier, as you can see a marker on the HUD that directs you to one.
The remainder of the patch, which is due out "soon," focuses on fixing bugs and ensuring things work properly. You can see the full patch notes below.
No Man's Sky 1.22 Update Patch Notes
HUD markers have been added to allow you to easily navigate back to an Exocraft Geobay
Fixed a bug that caused vehicle weapons and mining lasers not to drain charge
Fixed an issue which could cause the Starship cockpit to vanish when exiting
Fixed some freighter door texture issues
Fixed a rare crash when scanning from a vehicle
Fixed a rare crash when feeding creatures
Fixed an issue which caused weapons to miss-fire when using Plasma Launcher
During warp the quick menu now hides properly as intended
The next livestream event for Destiny's last big update, Age of Triumph, is coming soon. The broadcast is set for Wednesday, March 15, starting at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET.
This livestream is titled "Rituals and Strikes," and will feature Destiny senior designers Tim Williams and Joe Sifferman. A teaser for the stream can be seen below.
This is Destiny's second livestream event for Age of Triumph. The first was held last week, and it confirmed that all of Destiny's raids, including Crota's End, Vault of Glass, King's Fall, and Wrath of the Machine, are coming back. You can check out our previous coverage to learn more.
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